New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday met Chinese President Xi Jinping in a crucial bilateral meeting in Brazil in which the two leaders “reiterated the importance of maintaining peace and security in the border areas” and also discussed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) which India recently refused to join. After the Chinese President told Mr Modi how he fondly recalled the warm welcome given to him at Chennai last month for the second informal summit between the two leaders at Mamallapuram near the southern metropolis, he invited Mr Modi for the third edition of the informal summit in China in 2020 for which “the date and venue for which will be determined through diplomatic channels”.
The meeting between the two leaders is the first since the fresh war of words between the two countries on October 31 after India bifurcated its J&K state into the two UT of J&K and Ladakh.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China, on the sidelines of the 11th Brics summit at Brasilia. The leaders noted that the special representatives will have another meeting on matters relating to the boundary question and reiterated the importance of maintaining peace and security in the border areas. The leaders also exchanged views on multilateral issues, including WTO, Brics and RCEP. They both agreed on the importance of maintaining close dialogue on matters relating to trade and investment,” the ministry of external affairs said in a statement.
“President Xi Jinping conveyed his deep appreciation to PM for hosting him at the second Informal Summit in Chennai... He invited the PM for the third informal summit in China in 2020,” the MEA added.
Mr Xi thanked PM for India’s substantial participation in the just concluded China Import Export Expo in Shanghai. The two leaders agreed that the new high-level mechanism on trade and economy should meet at an early date.
It may be recalled that just two weeks ago, the two Asian giants had been involved in a fresh war of words, with Beijing calling the creation of two new UTs of J&K and Ladakh as “unlawful and void”.
