Modi, Xi get down to tackling tough issues

Boundary row, trade balance dominate talks.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping wave as they visit Dacien Buddhist Temple in Xian, Shaanxi province on Thursday.

Using the historical backdrop of Xian and the shared link of Buddhism between their countries, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping discussed on Thursday how to build better cooperation and trust between India and China.

Difficult issues dominated the discourse between the two leaders, including the boundary row and balance of trade.

Briefing the media after the 90-minute meeting held at the Governor’s Guest house in Shaanxi province, Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar said the leaders discussed maintaining “peace and tranquillity” at the boundary and cooperation on tackling terrorism.

The attack on a guest house in Kabul on Thursday that left four Indians among 14 people dead, and the gunning down of 43 minority members on board a bus in Karachi on Wednesday were also discussed.

Water for Maldives

Earlier, Mr. Modi spoke to Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani about the attack in Kabul. Mr. Modi and Mr. Xi also talked about other issues in the subcontinent, most notably coordinating relief for the Nepal earthquake victims, and sending water supplies to Maldives last December.

Officials, however, did not reveal much on the progress made in the talks on the resolution of the India-China border dispute, saying that the leaders spoke of the need for “strengthening trust” so as to have “peace and tranquillity” at the boundary, and discussed the issue of trans-boundary rivers.

No mention was made of China’s Silk Road initiative and the economic corridor in Pakistan which will run through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Meanwhile, a storm of criticism on social media networks followed state-broadcaster CCTV’s broadcasting of a map of India that cut both Jammu and Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh out of it.