India, China agree to boost people-to-people relations

Qingdao (China): India and China have decided to set up a new “people to people mechanism” to build on the momentum in bilateral ties from the Wuhan Summit, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks on Saturday during their second meeting in nearly six weeks.

The decision to step up people to people contacts was announced by foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale during a press briefing after the meeting between the two leaders in this coastal city of China where the Prime Minister Modi has arrived for the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

Mr Modi had met Mr Xi in April in an unprecedented two-day “heart-to-heart” summit in Wuhan to “solidify” the India-China relationship after the Dokalam standoff last year. During their summit, they had held a candid exchange of views in a relaxing and friendly atmosphere on topics related to international relations, China-India relations and cooperation in various areas and reached important consensus.