Prime Minister Narendra Modi was today accorded a red carpet welcome in Wuhan where he arrived last evening to hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping to boost ties and discuss issues that are in their interest. The two leaders began their informal summit by witnessing a traditional Chinese dance at Hubei Provincial Museum, one of the best-known museums in the country. Xi was seen explaining to PM Modi about the essence of the traditional dance and music that was put on display here.

Before leaving the hall, Xi was also seen shaking hands with NSA Ajit Doval.

The Prime Minister is on a two-day visit to China, his first trip after the Doklam standoff last year. Both the giant neighbours are looking to reset their ties that have run into trouble over several issues in past few years. New Delhi and Beijing have been maintaining that the leaders will hold informal talks and the meeting will be different from the past ones. The talks will not be choreographed.

The importance of PM Modi’s visit could be ascertained with the fact that it comes just weeks ahead of the SCO Summit that will be held in the city of Qingdao in China’s Shandong province.

After witnessing the cultural programme, Modi and Xi began their ‘informal’ engagement by holding one-on-one meeting. The leaders will later take a tour of the museum campus for an hour. Reports said that Xi will be Modi’s personal tour guide. Xi and Modi will hold a delegation-level meeting at 6 pm. This will be followed by a dinner by Xi.

On Saturday, both the leaders will walk by the East lake and take a boat ride and hold talks at the East lake guesthouse.

This is Narendra Modi’s fourth visit to China since he took over as the Prime Minister of India in May 2014. His first visit to China took place in 2015. In 2016, he visited Hangzhou for the G-20 Summit and in the subsequent year, he visited Xiamen to attend the BRICS Summit.