Continuing his sojourn across the globe, Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Beijing last evening and held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on bilateral issues including the border stand-off at Doklam in Arunachal Pradesh.

The heads of State of the two Asian neighbors, whose combined economic might is greater than that of European countries, also agreed to work together for a joint economic project to be based in Afghanistan.  Modi’s 2-day visit to China comes close on the heels of the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting to be held which would be attended by Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, China, Kazhakstan, Russia, India and Pakistan.

Modi met Xi Jinping in the morning and after bilateral talks between the two leaders, Modi was taken on an aerial tour of China where he inspected famous waterfalls, lakes, rivers and many historic structures including the Great Wall of China.  The two leaders also spoke at length about the huge commercial market that China has been attempting to gain in India for some years now.

During his talks with Jinping, Modi recalled how the cultures and civilizations of both the countries flourished along Harappa and Mohenjo Daro.  Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said this morning on his Twitter account that the two leaders had agreed to issue strategic guidance to their (respective) militaries so as to strengthen communication and to build trust and understanding among them.