China’s Foreign Ministry said early on Friday that its President Xi Jinping told Prime Minister Narendra Modi during talks on Wednesday that both sides “should bear in mind the overall interests” of ties and “handle properly the border issue”.
Beijing also said that the meeting between the leaders, on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, came “at the request” of Mr. Modi. Informed sources, however, clarified that while India had sought an informal conversation with China, it had rejected a pending Chinese request for a more structured bilateral meeting between the two leaders.
Neither side had acknowledged the meeting on Wednesday, but on Thursday, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said that both sides had agreed to step up efforts for the disengagement of troops and de-escalation of tensions along the Line of Actual Control after a conversation between the two leaders the previous day.
