Ahead of Modi-Xi summit, Foreign Secretary meets Chinese Minister

Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale on Tuesday held consultations with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou here ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in China this weekend.

According to a statement from the External Affairs Ministry, the two sides reviewed the follow-up action on the understandings reached at the informal summit between Modi and Xi in Wuhan, China, and discussed the agenda for bilateral engagement in the coming months, including preparations for the meeting between the two leaders on the sidelines of of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Qingdao, China, on June 9-10.

"The two sides also exchanged views on regional and international issues of common interest," the statement said.

Modi and Xi held the informal summit on April 27-28 at the invitation of the Chinese leader in Wuhan where they pledged to keep the India-China border quiet and personally guide their respective armies to avert a Doklam-like military stand-off in future.

On June 1, delivering the keynote speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Modi said that "no other relationship of India has as many layers as our relations with China".

"I firmly believe that Asia and the world will have a better future when India and China work together in trust and confidence, sensitive to each other's interests," he said.

On Monday, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi met on the sidelines of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) Foreign Ministers meeting in South Africa and discussed ways to maintain momentum in bilateral ties.

Describing the meeting as "continuing multifaceted engagement between two large economies", External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted: "Both leaders discussed ways to maintain the momentum in bilateral and multilateral cooperation."

According to Tuesday's ministry statement, Vice Foreign Minister Kong also called on National Security Advisor Ajit Doval during his visit to New Delhi.

--IANS

ab/mr