China, India have set pace for world economy: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday asserted that China and India have set the pace for the world economy for the last 1,600 years respectively.

At the delegation-level talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping at East Lake Guesthouse, Prime Minister Modi thanked the former for inviting him to Wuhan.

Stressing on the importance of India to China, the Prime Minister said, "This is possibly for the first time that you have met a country's leader twice outside the capital, Beijing. This is a sign of the importance that you accord to India as a country."

Underscoring the need to work together, Prime Minister Modi added, "We (India-China) have the responsibility to work for 40 percent of the world population. This means trying to successfully get the world rid of many problems. To work together towards this is a big opportunity for us."

He further said that such informal summits between India and China should happen often, adding that such summits should become a tradition between the two Asian giants.

Inviting President Xi to hold a similar informal summit next year in India, Prime Minister Modi said, "I hope such informal summits become a tradition between both the countries. I'll be happy if, in 2019, we can have such informal summit in India."

Later in the day, the two leaders will take a walk up to the Meiling Hall around the guesthouse.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Modi and President Xi held one-on-one talks after the former arrived at the Hubei province.

Both the leaders discussed the historical past of both India and China as Prime Minister Modi highlighted his visit to Three Gorges Dam as Gujarat's Chief Minister.

After that, President Xi took Prime Minister Modi on a tour of the exhibition of Marquis Yi of Zeng Cultural Relics and Treasure at Hubei Provincial Museum in Wuhan.

The Hubei Provincial Museum, one of the most prominent museums in China, opened in 1954, and has a large amount of state-level historic and cultural relics.

The ongoing historical bilateral summit between India and China is expected to thaw tensions between the two, rising due to the Doklam stand-off last year.

Prime Minister Modi, who is on a two-day visit to Wuhan, will depart for India on Saturday.