PM Modi, Chinese President Xi shake hands at side event at G20 Summit

Bali: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping shook hands Tuesday at a side event at the G20 Summit here, a gesture drawing some attention because of the strained relations between the two countries over a border clash two years back.

A live video feed for the media from the welcome dinner hosted by Indonesian President Joko Widodo for G20 delegates showed the exchange between the two leaders.

There had been some speculation over a possible bilateral meeting between the two leaders on the margins of the Group of 20 Summit, which began Tuesday. But the agenda made known by both sides so far does not slot such a meeting.

In September, Prime Minister Modi and President Xi came face-to-face at the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in the Uzbek city of Samarkand for the first time since the start of the border standoff in eastern Ladakh.

There was no report of a handshake or exchange of pleasantries between Modi and Xi at that time.