President Hu Jintao meets his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, in New Delhi on Wednesday ahead of the annual BRICS summit.  [Photo/Xinhua]

China and Russia will work together to push for an immediate cessation of violence in Syria and prevent tension in the war-torn country from escalating, leaders of the two countries said on Wednesday.

President Hu Jintao and his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, made the commitment as they met in the Indian capital, New Delhi, for the annual BRICS summit on Wednesday and Thursday. The summit also includes leaders from Brazil, India and South Africa.

This is the first time the two heads of state had met since Russia's presidential election earlier this month.

The two leaders urged the Syrian government and every party involved to solve the crisis peacefully through political dialogue.

"China is ready to work together with Russia and the global community to play a constructive role in proper settlement of the Syria issue," Hu told Medvedev, who stressed that the two countries had always maintained close contact and had adopted a concerted stance on the issue.

During their one-hour meeting, the two leaders also urged the parties involved on the Korean Peninsula to remain calm and restrained, and to keep in contact for regional peace and stability.

The strategic partnership of China and Russia had proved its trustworthiness and effectiveness through the two countries' joint action and aligned stance on not agreeing to foreign intervention in the ongoing Syrian political power struggle, experts said.

They used their rights as standing members of the United Nations Security Council to veto the Western-backed draft resolutions on Syria, which might open ways for foreign intervention and regime change.

The partners agreed to, as Premier Wen Jiabao said, support mediation by the United Nations-Arab League envoy to Syria, Kofi Annan, to lead to a fair and peaceful resolution.

Annan's six-point plan for ending the violence in Syria has received the endorsement of international communities and the UN, which are closely watching the mediation effort.

Apart from jointly driving forward the progress to address hot-spot world and regional issues, the two countries also cooperate closely on bilateral aspects.

The Russian Tourism Year in China, which kicked off on March 23, is expected to increase the number of tourist exchanges, or people-to-people communication, from 3.35 million tourists in 2011 to 5 million by 2015.

In early April, the two neighboring countries will hold a joint military drill in which their flagships will participate in anti-submarine maneuvers on the Yellow Sea, according to analysts.