President Xi Jinping meets with Indian PM Modi

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi conducted on Saturday a candid and in-depth exchange of views, and reached important consensus that China and India should be partners.

The two leaders met on the sidelines of the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi.

Xi said China has always viewed and developed its relations with India from a strategic height and with a long-term perspective.

Xi noted that he has met with Modi twice over the past two years, guiding bilateral relations from a new start to a further improvement.

Institutional exchanges between the two countries have gradually resumed, the list of areas of cooperation has continued to grow, and bilateral trade has reached a new record high, Xi added.

Xi said such hard-won progress should be cherished.

Noting that China and India have different national conditions, Xi said they can draw on each other's strengths, support one another, help each other succeed and pursue common development.

Amid a turbulent international landscape, China and India, as the world's two most populous countries and important members of the Global South, shoulder important responsibilities, Xi said.

Xi called on the two sides to keep in mind the future of humanity and the well-being of peoples, work together to promote high-quality development of greater BRICS cooperation, and contribute more positive energy to world peace, stability, development and prosperity.

Underscoring objective and rational strategic perception in calibrating China-India relations, Xi said China and India are partners for cooperation, not rivals.

The two countries provide development opportunities for each other rather than pose threats to each other, he added.

That is a strategic judgment based on the development stages of the two countries and the international environment, and serves the common interests of both countries and their peoples, Xi said.

Xi called on both sides to help each other succeed through win-win cooperation.

The two sides, Xi said, should focus on development as their greatest common denominator, while strengthening friendly exchanges and mutually beneficial cooperation.