New Delhi, March 20: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday called up Chinese President Xi Jinping to congratulate him for his re-election as president for a second term. The Prime Minister said that he hoped to work with Xi to develop ties between India and China. During the telephonic conversation, both the leaders agreed that as two major powers growing rapidly, bilateral relations between both nations - India and China are vital for realisation of 21st Century as ‘Asian Century’.

On Monday, PM Modi took to Chinese social media platform Weibo and sent a congratulatory message to Xi. In his message the Prime Minister said, "Dear President Xi Jinping, congratulations on getting re-elected as the President of the People's Republic of China". "I look forward to working with you for further development of our bilateral relations," he said.

To recall, PM Modi has 1,83,379 followers on Weibo. He had opened his account in the popular social media blog Weibo during his visit China in 2015.  Xi, 64, was unanimously elected by the 2,970 deputies of Chinese parliament the National People's Congress (NPC) last week.

On Monday, PM Modi also congratulated Russian President Vladimir Putin on his victory in the presidential polls. The Prime Minister also expressed hope that under his leadership, the Indo-Russia strategic partnership will continue to grow from strength to strength.

During the call, Modi told the Russian leader that he looked forward to welcoming him in India for the India-Russia Annual Summit later this year. "Conveying his compliments on Putin's success, the Prime Minister expressed the hope that under Putin's leadership, the 'Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership' between India and the Russian Federation will continue to grow from strength to strength," the External ministry said in a release.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 20, 2018 06:37 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).