New Delhi: Amid fast changing global political scenario, Chinese President Xi Jinping will pay an official visit to India on October 11-12.
China confirmed the visit to India after a series of moves that could have adversely impacted the bilateral space before the informal Summit, scheduled to take place in the coastal town of Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu.
The Summit is expected to focus on taking forward bilateral ties keeping aside the differences on several sticky issues.
In Beijing, days after Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing had said that China would stand by Pakistan on the resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir Dispute and they are “also working for Kashmiris to help them get their fundamental rights and justice”, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said on Tuesday. “We call on India and Pakistan to engage in dialogue and consultations on all issues including Kashmir and consolidate mutual trust”.
Chinese Ambassador to India Sun Weidong, who greeted Indians on the festival of Vijaya Dashami on Twitter, said on Tuesday: “May all the obstacles get removed from your path and all your wishes come true!”
He flagged two key issues, economic and trade cooperation and people-to-people or cultural ties between the two countries.
“With 2.7 billion combined population, potential is huge for Sino-Indian economic and trade cooperation. About 1,000 Chinese companies operate in India with $8 billion cumulative investment and 200,000+ local jobs created. Over past 5 years, China’s imports from India increased by 15%,” Sun, who took charge as the Chinese envoy recently, tweeted.
“P2P (people-to-people) & cultural ties are key to bilateral relations. We achieved a lot in this field, with 1 million mutual visits per year and 2 rounds of High-Level P2P & Cultural Exchanges Mechanism meeting. Let’s work for new highlights in culture, education, youth, media and sports exchanges,” he wrote.
A day earlier, Sun had said that the two countries should unleash the “positive effect of Wuhan informal summit” as they look ahead.
