By Gaurav Sharma

Xiamen (China), Sep 5 (IANS): Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed at a bilateral meeting here on Tuesday that keeping peace on their border was necessary to further deepen their bilateral ties.

At a bilateral after the conclusion of the 9th BRICS Summit here, Modi and Xi agreed that "peace and tranquility in the border areas was a prerequisite for the further development of (bilateral) relationship", Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar told the media.

"One of the important points they made during the meeting was that peace and tranquility in the border areas was a prerequisite for the further development of our relationship," he told the media.

Indian and Chinese troops ended last month a tense stand-off on the Doklam border that began in June and which seriously affected their bilateral ties.

This was the first meeting between Xi and Modi after the conclusion of the border row.

Jaishankar said the discussions were "forward-looking and constructive". He said the issue of counter-terrorism did not figure in the talks.