SCO summit: Modi says meeting with Xi will add further vigour to India-China ties

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is holding bilateral talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the 18th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in the city of Qingdao.

In his opening remarks, 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.

Today's meeting between PM Modi and President Xi comes six weeks after the two leaders held an informal summit in central China's Wuhan city during which they exchanged views on solidifying the relationship between the two countries.

Modi arrived here in the afternoon on a two-day visit to attend the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). Before their meeting, the two leaders had a warm handshake and posed for photographs.

Officials had said in the bilateral meeting here, Modi and Xi are expected to take stock of the implementation of the decisions taken at their informal summit in Wuhan on April 27-28.

After their talks in Wuhan, Modi and Xi had decided to issue "strategic guidance" to their militaries to strengthen communications to build trust and understanding as part of efforts to avoid a Doklam-like situation in the future.

The two leaders had also discussed ways to give impetus to their economic ties as well as people-to-people relations.

Troops of India and China were locked in the 73-day standoff in Doklam since June 16 after the Indian side stopped the construction of a road by the Chinese Army in the disputed area. Bhutan and China have a dispute over Doklam. The face-off had ended on August 28.

However, there have been concerted efforts by both sides to reset ties leaving behind the Doklam episode.

Relations between India and China had also witnessed a downturn owing to differences over a series of issues including China blocking India's move to get Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar banned by the UN, its opposition to India's bid for NSG membership and China's Belt and Road Initiative.

Modi is expected to hold nearly half a dozen bilateral meetings with leaders of other SCO countries. It is for the first time the Indian prime minister will be attending the SCO Summit after India along with Pakistan became full-fledged members of the grouping, which has been increasingly seen as a counter to NATO.

The SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the presidents of Russia, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.