During their second informal summit, “Chennai Connect”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping visited an exhibition on artefacts and handloom at Taj Fisherman’s Cove Hotel in Tamil Nadu’s Kovalam. A range of artefacts were displayed including ‘Nataraja’. A variety of colourful sarees also dotted the walls at the exhibition. The exhibition also had at least two traditional sarees which have Chinese President’s face imprinted on it. The aim of the exhibition was to introduce Prez X with Tamil culture. Earlier, both leaders held one-on-one and delegation level talks. In a decision taken after their talks, the leaders established a “High-Level Economic and Trade Dialogue mechanism” between the Finance Ministers with the three-pronged objective of enhancing trade volumes, bridging the massive bilateral trade deficit, and increasing mutual investment in sectors agreed upon. A key test of the bonhomie and trust-building will be seen towards the month-end when the two leaders attend the ASEAN-led summit in Bangkok that is due to announce the conclusion of the 16-nation free trade Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement.
