The leaders meet at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation as India becomes the bloc’s latest member, amid lingering Indian unease over China’s growing influence
Chinese President Xi Jinping told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the two countries should work to appropriately manage their differences, the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday. Xi also congratulated India on becoming an official member state of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) security bloc, jointly led by Russia and China. The two leaders met in Astana, Kazakhstan, on the sidelines of a summit for the eight country bloc, which also includes nearly a dozen other states as partners or observers. “ (China and India) should strengthen multilateral communication and consultation, and appropriately control and manage differences and sensitive issues, ” Xi said, according to the statement. Modi thanked Xi for supporting India’s full membership of the SCO, and said that the two countries should respect each other’s core interests and appropriately manage differences, according to the Chinese foreign ministry post.
