In April last year, PM Modi and Xi Jinping had met in Wuhan for an informal summit in order to deepen bilateral cooperation. (Photo: Twitter/@narendramodi)

Chinese President Xi Jinping is likely to visit India this year to discuss ways to further strengthen bilateral relations.

The development comes shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on Thursday.

#WATCH Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets President of China Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the SCO Summit. #Kyrgyzstan pic.twitter.com/Bw1AqQeAk1 ANI (@ANI) June 13, 2019



"Deepening friendship with China. PM @narendramodi's first meeting on the sidelines of the SCO Summit is with President Xi Jinping. Both leaders are discussing ways to further strengthen bilateral relations," PM Modi tweeted on the delegation-level talks between the two sides.

Deepening friendship with China.



PM @narendramodi’s first meeting on the sidelines of the SCO Summit is with President Xi Jinping.



Both leaders are discussing ways to further strengthen bilateral relations. pic.twitter.com/WgrGcsT2L1 PMO India (@PMOIndia) June 13, 2019

Had an extremely fruitful meeting with President Xi Jinping. Our talks included the full spectrum of India-China relations.



We shall continue working together to improve economic and cultural ties between our nations. pic.twitter.com/JIPNS502I3 Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 13, 2019





"Your birthday falls on June 15. On behalf of the people of India, I give my best wishes to you. After election results, I received your message and you congratulated me again. I am obliged. Together, we can move forward and work with each other in various areas in the coming days," PM Modi said in his opening remarks.

Later, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted, "Building on the momentum of high-level exchanges, PM @narendramodi had a warm meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Leaders discussed all aspects of enriching our bilateral relations & recognised the positive role of strategic communication in deepening our partnership."

This is the first bilateral meeting between Modi and Xi this year. It also comes after China had lifted its objections against the United Nations' blacklisting of Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar in May.

In April last year, PM Modi and Xi Jinping had met in Wuhan for an informal summit in order to deepen bilateral cooperation. That meeting came following the 73-day standoff in Bhutan's Doklam plateau in 2017, which strained bilateral ties between the two countries.

(With ANI inputs)