President Xi told Modi that the international community was watching the meeting closely. He said Delhi and Beijing must set an example for boosting the unity of developing countries and “to contribute to promoting multi-polarisation and democracy in international relations".

A meeting between the two leaders comes just two days after they settled a tense border dispute in the Himalayas. But experts said their long-term geopolitical rivalry would persist.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping have met on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Russia, in their first bilateral meeting in five years.