China wants to put its relationship with India on the "right track," President Xi Jinping told Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, as the two countries sought to mend ties damaged by a recent tense Himalayan border standoff.

The meeting was the first between the two leaders since Chinese and Indian troops ended a standoff in the Doklam border region about a week ago that was the neighbors' most serious military confrontation in decades.

Talks between Xi and Modi had been in question before the de-escalation, which came just in time for China to host the BRICS summit of emerging economies, which also includes Brazil, Russia and South Africa, in the southeastern city of Xiamen.