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Modi, Xi meet to bolster ties

By The Assam Tribune

QINGDAO, June 9 - Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said he had detailed discussions with Chinese President Xi Jinping on bilateral and global issues which will add further vigour to the India-China friendship after their �milestone� informal summit in Wuhan.

An MoU on sharing hydrological information of the Brahmaputra river by China to India and another pact on amendment of the protocol on phytosanitary requirements for exporting rice from India to China to include non-Basmati rice were signed after the Modi-Xi talks here in the eastern Chinese port city.

During their meeting, which came nearly six weeks since the Wuhan summit, the two leaders discussed a blueprint for deepening bilateral relationship and reviewed the implementation of decisions they had taken in the central Chinese city.

The meeting took place ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit and covered key aspects of the bilateral engagement, reflecting the resolve by the two countries to reset relations and bring back trust in their ties which was hit by the Doklam standoff and several other thorny issues.

�Met this year�s SCO host, President Xi Jinping this evening. We had detailed discussions on bilateral and global issues. Our talks will add further vigour to the India-China friendship,� Modi tweeted after the meeting.

Recalling that he and Prime Minister Modi successfully had an informal meeting and reached important consensus in Wuhan, President Xi said the meeting had been well received by both countries and the international community, and a positive atmosphere is taking shape to pay close attention to and support the development of China-India relations.

China is willing to work with India to take the Wuhan meeting as a �new starting point� to continuously enhance political mutual trust and engage in mutually beneficial cooperation across the board, so as to push forward China-India relations in a better, faster and steadier manner, Xi was quoted as saying by China�s state-run Xinhua news agency.

President Xi also accepted Prime Minister Modi�s invitation for an informal summit in India in 2019, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said, adding that the dates and other formalities will be worked out later through diplomatic channels. China�s defence minister as well as the Minister for Public Security will visit India, he added.

The two Asian leaders agreed to maintain strategic communications and meet on the sidelines of international meetings. The next Modi-Xi meeting would take place in South Africa in July on the sidelines of the BRICS summit, he said. � PTI

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