Modi, Xi spend ‘quality time’, discuss trade, terror on Day 1
In ‘open and cordial’ discussions at seaside town, leaders share national visions
MAMALLAPURAM: The private dinner between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping that capped the first day of the India-china informal summit on Friday lasted more than double the scheduled duration, an indication that both sides were making efforts to work out differences that have recently strained ties.
Modi welcomed Xi after he drove in a motorcade to this seaside resort at about 5pm and took the Chinese leader around several monuments at a 1,400-yearold temple complex. They watched a cultural programme before going into the dinner at the Shore Temple complex, where the leaders were seated at a separate table with interpreters while their aides sat at a different location.
The dinner, which began at 7pm, was expected to last about an hour but ended well past 9:30pm, suggesting that the two leaders held substantive discussions despite the strain in the bilateral relationship because of China’s strong support to Pakistan on the Kashmir issue over the past few weeks.
Briefing the media after the two leaders concluded their discussions on the first day of the summit, foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale said: “Discussions were very open and cordial. The two leaders had detailed discussions on their respective national visions… President Xi Jinping, while acknowledging that the Prime Minister had got a [big]