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China's XI, India's Modi hold rare meeting to discuss bilateral ties amid BRICS summit

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) and China's President Xi Jinping. (File photo by Reuters)

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have held talks on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The two leaders on Thursday had a candid and in-depth exchange of views regarding improving current strained relations and other issues of shared interest between Beijing and Delhi, Chinese media cited a foreign ministry spokesperson as saying.

Xi stressed the betterment of relations served the common interests of both nations and is also conducive to peace, stability, and development in the region and across the globe.

The two sides should bear in mind the overall interests of their bilateral relations and handle properly the border issue so as to jointly safeguard peace and tranquility in the border region, Xi said.

Modi, for his part, highlighted the border issue along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), India's Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said, adding that Modi stressed "India's concerns on the unresolved issues along the LAC".

He, also, "underlined that the maintenance of peace and tranquility in the border areas, and observing and respecting the LAC are essential for the normalization of the India-China relationship," the foreign secretary said.

Modi and Xi agreed "to direct their relevant officials to intensify efforts at expeditious disengagement and de-escalation," Kwatra pointed out.

Relations between the neighbors have been strained for more than three years since soldiers from both sides clashed in the Himalayan frontier in June 2020, resulting in 24 deaths.

The two leaders interacted on the sidelines of the Group of 20 Nations summit in Indonesia last year, but this is the first time that Modi has brought up the issue directly with Xi.


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