Xi calls for joint Chinese-Indian efforts in building stronger BRICS partnership

UFA, Russia, July 8 -- China and India should work together to build a closer, more comprehensive and firmer partnership among the BRICS countries, Chinese President Xi Jinping said here Wednesday.

Xi made the remarks when meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the southwestern Russian city of Ufa ahead of two multilateral summits.

The Chinese president recalled his meeting with Modi in May in the northwestern Chinese city of Xi'an, where the two leaders reached important consensuses on enriching the bilateral strategic partnership and forging a closer partnership of development.

The meeting sent positive signals to the two peoples and the international community that the two major developing nations are committed to cooperating for common development, said Xi.

Thanks to joint efforts of both sides, the agreements reached back then are now being translated into steady progress in bilateral cooperation in such areas as parliamentary exchanges, railway, industrial parks and smart city, Xi said.

The president called on the two countries to make concerted efforts to maintain the positive momentum in the development of bilateral ties and open new prospects for mutually beneficial cooperation.

Xi said the two countries should maintain high-level contact, strengthen multi-level strategic communication, complete feasibility study on major cooperation projects as scheduled and build flagship bilateral cooperation projects.

He suggested the two sides solidly implement the China-India cultural exchange program and beef up think-tank, media and local-level cooperation.

On border issues, Xi called on the two sides to properly manage and control their differences and jointly safeguard peace and security in the border areas.

China and India should make joint efforts to push forward the development of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) and the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar economic corridor, said Xi.

He also proposed to explore ways to effectively connect China's Belt and Road initiative with India's relevant development plans, in a bid to achieve mutually beneficial cooperation and common development.

Xi suggested that China and India, both as staunch supporters and active builders of the BRICS mechanism, work together to forge a closer, more comprehensive and firmer partnership within the emerging-market framework, so as to enable the BRICS countries to play a positive and constructive role and contribute more to world peace and development.

For his part, Modi said the India-China ties are enjoying sound development momentum, with mutual trust deepening continuously.

Recalling his meetings with Xi, Modi said the two countries have maintained frequent high-level contact.

In recent years, India and China have further expanded their economic and trade cooperation and made steady progress in cooperation in such areas as science and technology, outer space and infrastructure, Modi said.

Stressing that India welcomes more Chinese investment, Modi said his country stands ready to work with the Chinese side to strengthen strategic communication and coordination and properly manage their differences, including those in border issues.

The Indian side, he said, is willing to beef up cooperation with China under the framework of BRICS and actively participate in the construction and cooperation projects of the NDB and the AIIB, which provide more opportunities for deepening India-China interaction.

It is the fourth bilateral meeting between the two leaders since their first in Fortaleza, Brazil, last July. Respectively in September 2014 and May 2015, Xi and Modi visited each other's country, including each other's hometown.

The meeting came before the seventh summit of BRICS, an emerging-market bloc that consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, and the 15th Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit.

The upcoming SCO summit is expected to pass a resolution on starting the procedures of granting India and Pakistan full membership of the organization.