Chinese Foreign Minister begins India visit
June 8, 2014, 7:33 am

China still has unresolved border disputes with India [AP]

Wang will meet Indian state leaders and hold talks with India’s new Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj on the development of China-India ties.

Before Wang left Beijing, a statement from China’s Foreign Ministry said China is “ready to work with India’s new government to bring bilateral ties to a new high”.

2014 is the Year of Friendly Exchanges between China and India, which will be marked by a series of cultural exchange events. This was an agreement signed by former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang in May last year.

Since assuming power, the new Chinese President Xi Jinping has sent clear signals of boosting bilateral relations with India.

With a combined population of 2.5 billion, China, the world’s second largest economy, and India are increasingly playing an important and influential role in the global economy.

“The world needs common development of China and India,” said Xi in March last year.

New Delhi and Beijing have set a target to reach $100 billion in bilateral trade by 2015 although India’s trade deficit with China reached a record $ 31.4 billion in 2013, new trade figures released by China earlier this year revealed.

The construction of a regional economic corridor and the revival of the ancient Silk Road will be on top of the Chinese Foreign Minister’s trade pitch to India. The situation in Afghanistan, Ukraine and Syria is also expected to be discussed during his bilateral talks with his Indian counterpart.

In the wake of the diplomatic fallout between Japan and China, however, the new Indian government’s special appreciation of ties with Tokyo would be followed keenly by the Chinese government.

Modi is one of the three people followed by the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Twitter.

Syed Akbaruddin, a spokesperson in the Indian Foreign Ministry on Friday said Prime Minister Modi is likely to visit Japan in July ahead of the 6^th BRICS Summit in Brazil.

Modi will hold talks with his Japanese counterpart Abe on key bilateral and regional issues in the backdrop of growing tensions in the Asia-Pacific region, with the territorial disputes between Japan and China and the US pivot to Asia.

Indian media has reported extensively on the personal friendship shared by the new Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Japanese Premier.

The new Indian government’s overtures towards Tibet would also be watched closely by China. Beijing considers the Himalayan region an integral part of Chinese territory.

Although, Beijing has ruled Tibet since 1951, Lobsang Sangay, the Sikyong or political head of the ‘Tibetan government in exile” and other political leaders of the Central Tibetan Administration, was invited by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party to the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on May 26.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron was involved in a row with Beijing over contacts with Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama last year.

Cameron was forced to abandon a visit to China after Beijing downgraded its relations with Britain after he met the Dalai Lama in May last year.

TBP