New Delhi – The Modi-Xi meeting is aimed at mending ties strained by India’s decision to split Jammu & Kashmir state into two. China, which claims part of the area’s Ladakh region, is also a close ally of India’s rival, Pakistan.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged to work together against “radicalization” in an informal meeting on Friday in the southern Indian town of Mamallapuram.

“Both leaders said that these were large countries and that radicalization was a matter of concern to both, and that both would work together to see that radicalization and terrorism did not affect the fabric of our multicultural, multiethnic, multireligious societies,” Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale told reporters.

An official statement from Beijing said Saturday that the two leaders agreed to “promote exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations.”

“Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed on Friday to promote exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations to achieve joint development and prosperity,” said a statement released by Xinhua, China’s official news agency.

On Saturday, Modi and Xi strolled along a Bay of Bengal beach and held one-on-one talks overlooking the ocean in Mahbalipuram.

“Our Chennai vision today has launched a new era of cooperation between our two countries,” Modi said Saturday as he launched the formal talks.

The Indian premier highlighted how the two countries had agreed last year to “prudently manage our differences and not to allow them to become disputes.” (DW)