Johannesburg: Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Brics Summit, and held “productive” talks to maintain the “momentum” generated by his recent meeting with the two leaders.
During the talks with Mr Xi, Prime Minister Modi agreed that the Chinese defence minister will visit India next month. Mr Modi also expressed his willingness to send National Security Adviser Ajit Doval to China this year for the special representative-level boundary talks.
“It is important to maintain this momentum and for this we should, at our level, regularly review our relationship and give proper instructions whenever required,” Mr Modi told Mr Xi in his opening remarks.
In his meeting with Mr Putin on Friday, Mr Modi, who is here to attend the Brics Summit, emphasised that the friendship between the two countries was deep-rooted.
“Wide-ranging and productive talks with President Putin. India’s friendship with Russia is deep-rooted and our countries will continue working together in multiple sectors. @Kremlin-Russia,” Prime Minister Modi said in a tweet.
The two leaders had a comprehensive discussion on bilateral issues of mutual interest, especially in trade, investment, energy, defence and tourism, ministry of external affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in a tweet later. Mr Modi was meeting Mr Putin for a third time after their informal summit in the Black Sea coastal city of Sochi in Russia in May.
Mr Modi’s meeting with Mr Xi on Thursday night was also the third time in nearly three months last evening after their two-day informal summit in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late April.
