New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to the BRICS summit to be held in 2026. India will host this summit next year. PM Modi is in China for the SCO summit, where he met Xi Jinping.
According to a press release from the Ministry of External Affairs, Chinese President Xi Jinping thanked Prime Minister Modi for the invitation and offered China’s support for India’s BRICS chairmanship.
PM Modi and Xi Jinping meet
Prime Minister Modi met Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the 25th meeting of the heads of state of the Shanghai Cooperation Council (SCO) and discussed several important topics including the border issue. The two leaders highlighted the importance of India-China relations in their meeting on Sunday.
PM Modi on first visit to China in seven years
Earlier, Prime Minister Modi arrived in China on Saturday for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, his first visit to China in seven years. In his opening speech during the delegation-level talks on Sunday, he said that the welfare of crores of people is linked to bilateral cooperation between India and China. At the same time, Xi Jinping also expressed similar sentiments and said that it is important for the elephant and the dragon to walk together.
‘Differences should not turn into disputes’
In a press release issued regarding the meeting, the Ministry of External Affairs said that Prime Minister Modi and Xi Jinping emphasized that both countries are development partners and not rivals and their differences should not turn into disputes.
According to the Ministry of External Affairs release, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that both India and China want strategic autonomy and their relations should not be seen from the perspective of any third country.
The release said, “The two leaders considered it necessary to expand the common ground on bilateral, regional and global issues and challenges, such as terrorism and fair trade at multilateral forums.” Describing India and China as the elephant and the dragon, Xi Jinping said in the meeting that it is very important for the two countries to come together and become good neighbors.
