'Peace & tranquility along border is like insurance policy for ties': India to China

Tianjin: Maintenance of peace and tranquility at the border is like an insurance policy for India-China ties and Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed this position to Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said.

The two leaders held wide-ranging talks earlier in the day with a focus on rebuilding the bilateral relations that came under severe strain following the over four-year border standoff in eastern Ladakh that ended in October last year.

Misri, elaborating on talks between the two leaders on the margins of the SCO summit, said Modi mentioned the challenge of cross-border terrorism and pitched for extending support to each other to combat it as both India and China have been impacted by the menace.

We have received understanding and cooperation from China as we deal with the issue of cross-border terrorism in context of the ongoing SCO summit, he said at a media briefing.

The foreign secretary said Modi and Xi spoke about their respective principles for bilateral ties during their talks and that their positions are expected to help guide the future works in the relations.

It was an element of consensus that stable and amicable India-China relationship can benefit 2.8 billion people of the two countries, he said.

President Xi made four suggestions to further upgrade bilateral, Misri said The suggestions are: to strengthen strategic communication and deepen mutual trust, to expand exchanges and cooperation to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results, to accommodate each other's concerns, and finally to strengthen multilateral cooperation to safeguard common interests, the foreign secretary said.

"All of these were responded to positively by Prime Minister Modi," he said.

PM Modi also underlined the need for peace and tranquility in border areas for continued and smooth development of ties, Misri added.

The foreign secretary said the two leaders were of the view that differences between India and China should not be allowed to be turned into disputes.