India, Sept. 12 -- India on Saturday emphasised that peace and tranquillity in the border areas remain the "essential basis" for developing ties with China, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping welcomed "steady progress" in bilateral relations during a meeting on the margins of the Brics Summit in New Delhi.

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Xi travelled to India for the first time in seven years to attend the Brics Summit, setting up the meeting with Modi to take forward the normalisation of bilateral ties amid lingering tensions on the border. The two leaders last met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit in the Chinese city of Tianjin a year ago.

Modi emphasised that peace and tranquil...