Chennai Connect Will Bring New Era Of Cooperation In India, China Ties: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said a new era of cooperation will begin in Sino-India ties through the “Chennai connect”. In his delegation level talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on second day of informal summit Modi noted that India and China were global economic powers during most of the last 2000 years and were returning to stage gradually. The prime minister said strategic communication between the two countries increased following the first informal summit in Wuhan. “The Wuhan spirit had given a new momentum and trust to our ties. A new era of cooperation will begin today through the Chennai Connect’,” PM Modi said.

We had decided to prudently manage differences and not to allow them to become disputes. We had decided that we will be sensitive towards each other’s concerns, said PM Modi.

Before the delegation level talks, Xi and Modi held a one-on-one discussion lasting about an hour at the Fisherman’s Cove resort on Saturday morning, sending a clear signal of an intent to refashion ties for greater bilateral cooperation.

On Friday, Modi and Xi held a two-and-half-hour open and cordial one-on-one discussion over dinner, vowing to jointly combat terrorism and radicalisation, and expand bilateral trade and investment.

The meeting at the magnificent Shore temple complex under a sea-facing colourful tent went beyond the scheduled time as both leader touched upon a range of issues over sumptuous local delicacies.

“This was quality time that the two leaders spent together one-on-one, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale had said after the meeting, adding the leaders agreed to work together so that radicalisation and terrorism do not affect the multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-religious societies of the two nations.

Xi’s visit to India came two days after he held talks with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in Beijing. After the talks, a joint statement said China is paying close attention” to the situation in Kashmir and that the issue should be properly and peacefully resolved based on the UN Charter. The comments evoked sharp reaction from New Delhi.

Officials on both sides said the focus of the Modi-Xi summit has been to move forward and chart a new pathway of development notwithstanding sharp differences between the two countries over several contentious issues.

(With PTI Inputs)