AMN / Qingdao (China)

India and China signed two bilateral agreements during a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping here today.

The agreements include continuing to share Brahmaputra water data during flood season and exporting non-basmati rice to China. The meeting was held on the sidelines of the 18th Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit beginning tomorrow.

India and China today set a trade target of 100 billion US dollars by 2020. Speaking to reporters in Qingdao, Foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale said, during the hour-long meeting between Prime minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping both the countries agreed on many initiatives to take forward the spirit of Wuhan.

Mr Gokhale informed that Prime minister accepted readily the proposal of China to set up a branch of Bank of China in Mumbai to enhance trade and investment ties between the two countries.

Prime Minister Modi reached Qingdao, the Eastern Chinese coastal city this afternoon to attend the SCO summit. This will be India’s first participation as a full member of the 8 nation SCO grouping which includes India, China and Russia as its members.

In another bi-lateral, the Prime Minister met Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on the sidelines of SCO summit. In a tweet, Mr Modi said, they reviewed the full range of India-Uzbekistan friendship, especially ways to boost economic and cultural cooperation. He said, the ties between the two nations have their roots in history.

Chinese President told the Prime minister about Bollywood’s growing popularity in China and named Dangal and Bahubali.

Prime minister also held bi-lateral meetings with Presidents of Uzbekistan and Tazikistan.