Modi-Xi summit: Had ‘heart-to-heart’ talks, says Chinese President Xi Jinping
The HinduChinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday said there had been a “healthy and steady development” in the India-China relationship after last year’s Wuhan “informal summit”. Mr. Xi, who was in Mamallapuram for the second ‘informal summit’ with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, pointed out that both India and China, neighbours and important to each other, “are the only two countries with over 1 billion people.” The Chinese President said that he and Mr. Modi had engaged in “candid conversations like friends and heart-to-heart discussions on bilateral relations” over the last two days. As for India signing the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement covering the 10-member ASEAN bloc of Southeast Asian nations and its trading partners including China and Japan, the Secretary said Mr. Modi had stressed the importance of ensuring that the RCEP was “balanced”. Mr. Modi and Mr. Xi had also urged the special representatives of the two countries to “continue their efforts to arrive at a mutually-agreed framework for a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable settlement based on Political Parameters and Guiding Principles that were agreed by the two sides in 2005,” the MEA said in its release.