India and China concluded their 18th round of border talks with both sides agreeing to take necessary steps to maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas as a "pre-requisite" for boosting bilateral ties.
The two sides also decided to expand relations in areas where the Narendra Modi government is stressing, like railways, smart cities, skill development, clean and renewable energy and manufacturing.
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, the special representative on the boundary talks, and his Chinese counterpart, State Councillor Yang Jiechi, held talks here on Monday to resolve issues regarding the over 4,000-km boundary.
Jiechi, who arrived here on Sunday night, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday morning.
During the meeting, Modi expressed hope that his upcoming visit to China in May will have concrete outcomes and take the bilateral relationship to a new level.
Modi said he was looking forward to meeting President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang in China.
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He also outlined his vision for closer India-China relations and the significance of the bilateral relationship to the region and the world.
Yang conveyed the greetings of President Xi and Premier Li to Modi, according to an official statement from the Prime Minister's Office.
He also briefed Modi on the preparations for his upcoming visit to China.
Yang and Doval briefed the prime minister on the 18th round of talks. Both the teams held border talks on Monday that were "marked by cordiality and candour and were held in a constructive and forward looking atmosphere".
The talks were the first after the Narendra Modi government assumed office last year.
Both the special representatives "undertook a comprehensive review of earlier rounds of the talks" and "expressed satisfaction on the progress made in the negotiations and emphasized commitment to the three-step process to seek a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable resolution of the border question at an early date", the statement said.
"The special representatives continued the discussions to reach a mutually acceptable framework for resolution of the boundary question on the basis of the agreement on the political parameters and guiding principles," it said.
Both sides also agreed to take necessary steps to maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas, which is a pre-requisite for continued growth of bilateral relations.
The special representatives expressed satisfaction over the growing interaction between the border forces of the two countries and agreed to further expand such contacts as these constitute important confidence building measures for maintaining peace and tranquillity in the border areas, the statement said.
Both also viewed positively the development of bilateral relations following the successful visit of President Xi Jinping to India in September 2014 and "agreed to build on the momentum provided" by the visit to further expand bilateral relations in areas such as railways, smart cities, vocational education, skill development, clean and renewable energy and manufacturing sector.
Both sides agreed that growing linkages between Indian states and Chinese provinces through sister-city and sister-province mechanism plays an important role in deepening bilateral ties.
The special representatives emphasised the importance of high-level exchanges for strengthening bilateral ties, the statement said.
The two sides exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest and agreed to enhance their consultations on counter-terrorism, maritime security, climate change, reform of United Nations and civil nuclear energy cooperation.