Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met on Saturday after their free-wheeling discussions on Friday in Tamil Nadu's Mamallapuram. Recalibration of bilateral ties, combating terrorism were some of the issues discussed in the "open and cordial" talks that went on for around two-and-half hours.
On Saturday, the leaders met for the second day of discussions. India and China held one-on-one meetings and delegation level talks. After the discussions, both the sides will issue separate statements on the outcome of the summit.
"Both sides know that a lot is riding on the relationship and this is reflected in the summit being held on schedule despite speculations of its postponement in recent weeks," a senior official said.
Follow the Modi-Xi informal meet LIVE updates here:
1:15 pm: PM Modi bids farewell to President Xi.
12:45 pm: Silk portrait of President Jinping gifted by PM Modi.
12:32 pm: Visuals from the exhibition.
12:30 pm: PM Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping at an exhibition.
12:25 pm: "We had decided that we will manage our differences prudently and won't allow them to turn into disputes. We will remain sensitive about our concerns and our relationship will contribute towards peace and stability in the world," said PM Modi.
12:11 pm: "Today's Chennai meet is the start of a new era in India-China relations," PM Modi said.
12:10 pm: "We are really overwhelmed by your hospitality. Me and my colleagues have felt that very strongly. This will be a memorable experience for me and us," said President Xi.
12:05 pm: Chinese President Xi Jinping: Yesterday Prime Minister as you said, you and I had engaged in candid conversations like friends, heart to heart discussions on bilateral relations
12:00 pm: PM Modi: The first informal summit between India and China last year in Wuhan led to fresh stability in our relations and gave a fresh momentum. Strategic communication between our two countries has also increased.
11:50 am: "There have been deep cultural and trade relations between China and the state of Tamil Nadu. For most part of the last 2000 years, India and China have been economic powers ," said PM Modi.
11:35 am: Visuals from PM Modi-President Xi's informal meet.
11:28 am: The focus of the meeting is likely to be to enhancing trade and on how to maintain peace and tranquillity along the 3,500-km India-China border.
11:15 am: Visuals from PM Modi's meeting with President Xi at Kovalam.
11:00 am: The main Chinese delegation consists of Ding Xuexiang, member of political bureau of Central Committee; Yang Jiechi, member of political bureau of Central Committee, and Wang Yi, Foreign Minister.
10:50 am: The Indian delegation consists of S Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister; Ajit Doval, National Security Advisor; Vijay Gokhale, Foreign Secretary; Vikram Misri, Indian Ambassador to China; Naveen Srivastava, JS East Asia; and Raveesh Kumar, MEA Spokesperson.
10:45 am: PM Modi and President Xi Jinping are scheduled to speak for around 50 minutes.
10:35 am: Meeting between PM Modi and President Xi underway at Kovalam.
10:20 am: Visuals from PM Modi and President Xi's meet at Kovalam.
10:15 am: PM Narendra Modi welcomes Chinese President Xi Jinping at Taj Fisherman's Cove hotel in Kovalam.
9:55 am: Chinese President Xi Jinping's convoy leaves from ITC Grand Chola Hotel for Kovalam.
9:45 am: The Prime Minister also took a walk on the Mamallapuram beach in the morning.
9:35 am: "Plogging at a beach in Mamallapuram this morning. It lasted for over 30 minutes. Also handed over my 'collection' to Jeyaraj, who is a part of the hotel staff. Let us ensure our public places are clean and tidy! Let us also ensure we remain fit and healthy," PM Modi tweeted.
9:25 am: PM Modi cleans Mamallapuram beach on Saturday morning.
9:15 am: The vegetarian menu of the dinner.
9:10 am: The non-vegetarian menu of the PM Modi-President Xi dinner.
9:00 am: The leaders had a sumptuous meal on Friday, following the talks. 'Arachu vitta Sambhar', prepared from grounded lentils, certain spices and coconut to make it tastier was touted to be the key attraction in the menu. The meal included 'thakkali rasam,' made of tomato and 'imli' and 'kadalai (chick pea, generally) korma', besides halwa as the premier dessert, besides Ada pradhaman, a Kerala dessert.
Further, the dinner hosted for Xi included non-vegetarian dishes made of lobster, chicken and mutton.
8:50 am: Locals cheer for PM Modi and President Xi in Kovalam.
8:35 am: President Xi will hold meetings with Nepal President Bidhya Devi Bhandari at Sheetal Niwas.
8:30 am: As per schedule, President Jinping will visit neighbouring country Nepal on October 12 for two days.
8:20 am: Visuals from PM Modi and President Xi's meet on Friday.
8:17 am: Members of the Chinese diaspora gather outside ITC Grand Chola Hotel in Chennai where President Xi Jinping is staying.
8:10 am: "The discussion stressed over 150 minutes and it was well beyond the planned time for conversation. The discussions were very open and cordial. This was quality time that the two leaders spent together one-on-one," Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said in a late Friday evening press conference.
8:08 am: External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar described the engagement between Modi and Xi on the first day of the informal summit as "highly productive".
There was no official word on whether Modi and Xi discussed the Kashmir issue. In a tweet following the dinner, Modi said he was delighted to spend time with Xi.
(PTI)
8:05 am: "The free flowing nature of the informal summit at the UNESCO world heritage site will continue and deepen contacts at the highest level and guide the future trajectory of India-China relationship," the MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar had tweeted.
8:00 am: Officials on both the sides said the focus of the Modi-Xi summit would be to move forward and chart a new pathway of development notwithstanding sharp differences between the two countries over several contentious issues.