Chinese foreign minister meets Modi, Sushma; India’s NSG bid discussed

Wang and Swaraj also discussed issues relating to annual BRICS summit which will be hosted by India in Goa in October.

New Delhi:

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday, during which India's bid for membership of the NSG is understood to have figured among other regional and bilateral issues.

“A morning for neighbourly engagement. Chinese FM Wang Yi calls on Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” foreign ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup posted on Twitter.

Wang and Swaraj also discussed issues relating to annual BRICS summit which will be hosted by India in Goa in October. \"Discussing issues of mutual importance. EAM @SushmaSwaraj meets with her counterpart Chinese FM Wang Yi in New Delhi,\" External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted, along with a photograph of the meeting of the two foreign ministers.

Wang had arrived in Goa yesterday on a three-day visit to India. He had met Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar and discussed about preparations for the BRICS summit.

On Friday, China’s state run media had claimed that the door to India’s entry into NSG was not ‘tightly closed’.

Wang Yi had met Goa CM Laxmikant Parsekar on Friday, to review the logistics and security arrangements for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s proposed visit in October to the state for the BRICS summit.

China had blocked India’s entry into the NSG earlier this year, despite considerable efforts at diplomacy by Narendra Modi and the government. Beijing’s contention was that India was not a signatory of a key nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

But stressing that India and China are partners not rivals, state-run Xinhua news agency said on Friday that, “as Beijing and New Delhi head into a season of intensive top-level diplomatic encounters that could well define the future of their partnership, the two need to work together to keep their disagreements in check”.