India-China rendezvous along the riverside

It was India-China rendezvous by the riverside as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping took a walk along the picturesque Sabarmati riverfront Wednesday with traditional Gujarati music providing the backdrop.

Modi took active interest in explaining to Xi the various traditional dances of Gujarat.

As the Chinese president arrived at the venue, troops of dancers brought the riverfront alive with their performances.

The first lawn had four dance troops, forming an overall rhythmic pattern.

Modi showed Xi a Tarnetar umbrella being carried by one of the troops and then took him to a traditional Gujarati swing made of Sankheda wood which was set amidst the dancing groups.

Both Modi and Xi sat on the swing for a while before walking along the riverfront to the next lawn which had dance groups from the tribal regions of the state.

The scintillating performance included Mer Rass - a folk dance form of Mer community of Gujarat's Porbandar region - and a tribal pyramid by artistes from Dang, a tribal region of south Gujarat.

Modi took the Chinese president and his wife Peng Liyuan to a 'khatla', a traditional bed, and the two briefly sat on it.

They then moved to the adjacent lawn where Xi saw the famous Gujarati dance of Dandia.

The two leaders spent more than 55 minutes at the river front.

Modi then left Xi and Peng at the special Kutch handicraft designed royal tent for rest.

Xi arrived in Ahmedabad Wednesday afternoon and began a three-day India sojourn that would also see him visiting New Delhi.