Wuhan summit: With walk, boat ride, Day 2 gets personal

Wuhan [China] : The ongoing two-day historical informal summit between India and China in picturesque Wuhan city, which commenced on Friday will get more personal on Saturday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping are set to go for a walk and boat ride as well.

On Saturday, which marks the second and the last day of the informal summit, the two leaders will have opportunity to spend time without their aides as with President Xi taking Prime Minister Modi for a lakeside walk and a boat ride on the picturesque East Lake.

This will be followed by a private lunch hosted by the Chinese President.

According to the sources, the idea of this summit is to open strategic communication channel at the highest level.

Earlier on Friday, the two leaders commenced their informal summit at the East Lake guesthouse in China's Wuhan city.

In one-on-one meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping drew a parallel between the Indus and Chinese civilizations, both of which sprawled around rivers.

The two leaders visited the exhibition of Marquis Yi of Zeng Cultural Relics and Treasure at Hubei Provincial Museum in Wuhan.

The two-day visit by Prime Minister Modi to China is touted as an informal meeting between the leaders of the two Asian giants.

PM Modi will depart for India on Saturday.

The two Asian leaders, in 2014, met in Gujarat as part of the short historic visit of Xi Jinping along with a group of Chinese ministers to the Sabarmati Ashram.

Both the leaders discussed the historical past of both India and China as Prime Minister Modi highlighted his visit to Three Gorges Dam as Gujarat's Chief Minister.

After that, President Xi took Prime Minister Modi on a tour of the exhibition of Marquis Yi of Zeng Cultural Relics and Treasure at Hubei Provincial Museum in Wuhan.

In 2016, President Xi Jinping visited India to participate in the BRICS summit at Goa.

The following year, Prime Minister Modi visited China to participate in the G20 summit in Hangzhou and attend the BRICS summit in Xiamen.