PM Narendra Modi held a bilateral meeting with China's President Xi Jinping ahead of G20 summit.
Highlights
- PM Modi raises China's opposition to listing Masood Azhar as terrorist
- China willing to maintain 'hard-won sound' relations with India: Xi
- PM Modi, President Xi held talks ahead of G20 summit in Hangzhou
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held bilateral talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday, raising a range of prickly issues including terrorism, China's economic corridor that runs through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and India's membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group or NSG which Beijing has strongly opposed.
Here are the top 10 developments in the story:
PM Modi flew into Hangzhou in China on Saturday for the crucial G20 summit and talks with top world leaders including President Xi in their second meeting in less than three months.
"India, China must respect each other's aspirations, concerns and strategic interests," he said at the 35-minute-long meeting, where he raised India's concerns over the $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) being laid through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
"The response to terrorism must not be driven by any political consideration," PM Modi said, in a reference seen as a dig at China's opposition to designating Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a terrorist in the United Nations.
President Xi said that the two countries should constructively handle their differences. "China is willing to work with India to maintain their hard-won sound relations and further advance their cooperation", state-run Chinese Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying during their half an hour meeting.
The meeting between PM Modi and President Xi came amid a steady decline in the bilateral relations between India and China over a raft of issues including
The talks were followed by a meeting of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) leaders ahead of the G20 summit which PM Modi chaired, calling on members to intensify joint efforts to combat terrorism.
In an apparent reference to Pakistan, he demanded "coordinated actions" by the grouping to "isolate supporters and sponsors of terror". "Terrorists in South Asia, or anywhere for that matter, do not own banks or weapons factories. Clearly, someone funds and arms them," PM Modi said in a hard-hitting address.
Later at the G20 summit, PM Modi said a "difficult conversation" was not enough to combat the current global slowdown, pressing for a "collective, coordinated and targeted action" by the members to revive economic growth.
Laying down an agenda for structural reforms, he said there was need to improve financial system, boost domestic production, enhance infrastructure investment and create a pool of human capital.
With the summit tucked between Britain's vote in June to exit the European Union and the US presidential election in November, observers expect G20 leaders to mount a defence of free trade and globalisation and warn against isolationism.
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