Key takeaways from the Modi-Xi meet at Mamallapuram

India and China on Saturday resolved to start a new chapter of cooperation while prudently managing their differences as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to set up a ministerial-level mechanism to boost trade and investment and work towards deepening defence and security ties during their second informal summit in the ancient coastal town of Mamallapuram. Soon after his arrival on Friday afternoon, Xi was taken for a guided tour by Modi of the famous world heritage sites of Arjuna's Penance, Krishna's Butterball, the Pancha Ratha and Shore temple in this ancient temple town, kicking off the second informal summit between the two leaders. After the two-day talks, which mostly confined to the conversations between the two leaders in a relaxed manner followed by delegation level talks in the end, Xi said no matter from any point of view, China and India should be good neighbours and good partners who live in harmony and move forward hand in hand." Dragon and the elephant dance is the only correct choice for China and India, which is in the fundamental interests of both countries and their people," he said, without specifying differences between the two countries.

Some key takeaways from the meet: 

Trade: Among the significant outcomes of their nearly seven-hour one-on-one talks over two days were China's assurance to address India's concerns on ballooning trade deficit. The two leaders have also decided to establish a high-level economic and trade dialogue mechanism with the objective of achieving enhanced trade and commercial relations, as well as to better balance the trade between the two countries.  It will be headed by Vice Premier Hu Chunhua on the Chinese side and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman from India. In the talks, the Chinese president also agreed to take sincere steps in a concrete way to address India's concerns over ballooning trade deficit in China's favour. He also welcomed greater Indian investment in China in information technology and pharmaceutical sectors,  according to Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale.  They have also agreed to encourage mutual investments in identified sectors through the development of a manufacturing partnership and tasked their officials to develop the idea at the first meeting of the new dialogue mechanism.

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2. Border disputes: On the vexed boundary issue, Gokhale said both sides will continue to work on additional confidence building measures to enhance peace and tranquillity along the border. the two leaders exchanged views on outstanding issues, including on the boundary question and welcomed the work of the Special Representatives engaged in negotiations on the issue. The proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) issue was raised, and the countries will work on additional confidence building measures and agreement on consolidating strategic communication to enhance mutual trust between militaries of the two countries to maintain peace on border.

Kashmir: Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale, addressing a press conference at the end of the summit, said the Kashmir issue was not raised or discussed during the deliberations, but said the Chinese leader briefed Modi about Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's visit to Beijing earlier in the week.

Cross-border terror: The two leaders were concerned that terrorism continues to pose a common threat. They recognized the importance of continued joint efforts to ensure that the international community strengthens the framework against training, financing and supporting terrorist groups throughout the world and on a non-discriminatory basis.

PM Modi's statement after the summit: The Wuhan spirit gave a new momentum and trust to our relations. Today, our Chennai Connect will lead to the start of a new era of cooperation between the two countries, Modi said, referring to outcome arrived at the first informal summit between the two leaders at the Chinese city in April last year. Modi said the Wuhan summit led to increased stability and fresh momentum in Sino-India relations as strategic communication increased between the two sides. We had decided that we will prudently manage our differences, and not allow them to become disputes, we will remain sensitive about each other's concerns and that our relations will lead to peace and stability across the world. These are our big achievements and these will inspire us to do more in future, Modi said. The PM also said India and China were global economic powers during most of the last 2000 years and were returning to stage gradually. 

President Xi's statement after the summit: Xi said the first informal summit continues to produce visible progress. We have deeper strategic communication, more effective practical cooperation, more diverse people-to-people and cultural exchanges and we have closer cooperation on multilateral occasions. What has happened has proved that we made the right decision to have this kind of informal summit and we can well continue with this form of meeting, the Chinese leader said. President Xi invited Modi to visit China for the third informal summit and Modi has accepted the invitation. Noting that China-India cultural and people-to-people exchanges bear great potential, the Chinese president urged both countries to take the 70th anniversary of their diplomatic relations next year as an opportunity to conduct broader and deeper cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

-Inputs from PTI