Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held delegation-level talks on Friday following a quick tour of the Hubei Provincial Museum and a one-on-one interaction as part of the Informal Summit.

During the talks, PM Modi praised China’s development and the ancient history of the two countries.

“For 1600 years of the last 2000 years, China and India’s economy gave pace to the world economy. We shared almost 50 per cent of the world economy while the rest of the world shared the rest,” said Modi during the meeting at the East Lake Guest House, where Xi is staying.

“Since we represent 40 per cent of the world’s population, it is our responsibility to work for them,” he added.

Modi reminded the Chinese President of his talk of a “new era”.

“You had talked about your dream of a new era. I am working for a new India. I believe that your ‘new era’ and our ‘new India’ are the right steps for the benefit of the world,” said Modi as Xi looked on attentively.

The Indian PM also said he was in agreement with the Chinese leader’s view that China and India could play a positive role for peace, prosperity and stability of the world.

“The five positive elements of this relationship are thought, communication, support, commitment, and shared vision. These can be the basis for world peace and stability,” underlined PM Modi.

In the meeting, Xi emphasised on mutual cooperation for respective “national revitalisation” and called for positive moves for peace and development.

“We need to make positive contributions for global peace and development. I believe in that in the future we will meet like this from time to time,” said Xi.

Both sides had six members in their respective delegations.

Modi invited Xi to India for an informal summit in 2019, according to an IANS report.

Earlier in the day, Xi led Modi through a guided tour of the Hubei Provincial Museum. He also told Modi that Wuhan was selected for the ‘informal summit’ because of the ancient city’s historic and cultural influence on China’s history.

“We kept this meeting in Wuhan since you haven’t visited here,” said Xi, though the PM said he had visited Wuhan as part of a study tour before he became the PM.

READ | ‘Informal summit’ | PM Modi and Xi Jinping meet in Wuhan museum for first round of talks 

Xi also said Wuhan was the meeting point of two of China’s most important rivers – the Yangtze and the Han – credited with scripting the rise of the Chinese civilisation. He added that PM Modi’s visit in the month of spring was auspicious for meetings, according to Chinese beliefs.

PM Modi acknowledged the fact that rivers had helped carve the history of the two nations.

Xi and PM Modi will be having dinner hosted by the Chinese President at the guest house.

On Saturday, the two leaders are scheduled to go for a boat ride and a walk by the picturesque East Lake. They will also hold a fresh series of one-on-one talks.

This is the first meeting between the two leaders since the 2017 Doklam crisis which brought Indo-China ties to its lowest point since 1962.

The focus of the trip and the informal meeting for India and China is to reset their ties which were strained during the 73-day long military standoff.

The decision to hold an informal summit was taken on 22 April – the first day of Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s meeting with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.