Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday met Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires and the two leaders concurred there had been a perceptible improvement in bilateral relations, even as they looked to build on a thaw in ties after a standoff on the border last year.

At the meeting, both the leaders agreed to increase mutual trust and bring the bilateral ties to a higher level.

Xi said that China-India relations have seen an increasingly positive momentum, which not only brings growth impetus for the two countries but also injects stability and certainty into the global system at a time of profound changes, Xinhua news agency reported.

The two leaders discussed joint efforts to further enhance mutual trust and friendship between the two giant neighbours.

Xi and Modi have met twice after their informal summit in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late April — once at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit held in June in China’s Qingdao and the second time at the BRICS summit in South Africa’s Johannesburg in July.

Asserting that the Wuhan meet was a milestone in the India-China ties, Modi told Xi that he was looking forward to host him for an informal summit next year.

“Such initiatives are helpful in maintaining the momentum,” the prime minister said, adding that there “have been two review meetings — in Qingdao and in Johannesburg”.

He said the ties between the two countries have made huge strides over the last one year.

Modi said Friday’s meeting will strengthen further the partnership between the two nations.

“Today’s meeting will be important in providing a direction in terms of strengthening our relations,” he said. I express my heartiest thanks to you (President Xi) for taking out time for this meeting,” the prime minister said.

Modi later tweeted, “Had a wonderful meeting with President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Argentina. The talks revolved around a wide range of bilateral and global subjects. Our regular interactions have added significant strength to India-China ties.”

Had a wonderful meeting with President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Argentina.

The talks revolved around a wide range of bilateral and global subjects.

Our regular interactions have added significant strength to India-China ties. pic.twitter.com/iTLlamHrBE

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 30, 2018

According to Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale, the two leaders said that there had been a perceptible improvement in bilateral relations.

“Both of them had a very detailed review of what they agreed to in Wuhan and how it was progressed. Both of them said that progress has been made on the economic side,” he said.

(With inputs from agencies)