Prime Minister says decision to open consulates in Chengdu and Chennai reflects the shared commitment to expand bilateral ties.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (L) shake hands during a welcome ceremony outside the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing on Friday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (L) shake hands during a welcome ceremony outside the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing on Friday. (Reuters)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that he had a candid, constructive and friendly talks with the Chinese leadership and both sides agreed to explore a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable resolution on the boundary issue.

Addressing the media after talks with Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang in Beijing, Mr. Modi said bilateral cooperation was a very important part of his talks with Mr. Li and with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“We have set a high level of ambition for our economic partnership,” he said.

He said “President Xi and Premier Li were very responsive to the specific concerns I had raised on our growing trade deficit.”

The Prime Minister said their decision to open consulates in Chengdu and Chennai reflects the growing mutual confidence and shared commitment to expand their bilateral ties.

“This has been a very productive and positive visit. I look forward to working with President Xi and Premier Li,” Mr. Modi said.

Earlier, together with Mr. Li, Mr. Modi inspected the guard of honour at the Great Hall of People in Beijing.

After series of meetings on Friday, including an address to the students of Tsinghua University and attending the demonstration of Yoga-Tai Chi, the Chinese martial art, along with Mr. Li, he would head to Shanghai on Friday evening.

On Thursday, he had informal talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping during which all the contentious issues were discussed.

Modi thanks Xi on Weibo

Mr. Modi on Friday thanked Mr. Xi for productive discussions at Xi’an and posted photos of his visit to the historic city on Weibo.

“Had productive discussions with President Xi. Special thanks to him,” one of his tweets said.

He posted four photos of himself, which included a photo of him and Mr. Xi along with a monk.