President Pranab Mukherjee arrived in China on Tuesday on a four-day visit to the country that will see a significant political and economic boost to bilateral ties.
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However, irritants in ties cropped recently after China blocked India’s move to get a United Nations ban on Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Azhar and opposed granting India membership of NSG, saying it must sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to get an entry into the 48-member group.
On the second leg of his visit, the President will reach Beijing tomorrow where he will have talks with the top leaders of China, including with his counterpart President Xi Jinping, on bilateral, regional and worldwide issues.
India had countered the Chinese contention of signing NPT before becoming a member of NSG as “confusion” as NPT allows civil nuclear cooperation with non-NPT countries.
“We will extend warm welcome to President Mukherjee”, on his first visit to China, Ms. Hua told presspersons.
Earlier, the pPresident had said,”We seek a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable settlement of the boundary question and, pending the boundary settlement, to maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas”.
Apart from the NSG and NPT issues, Mukherjee is also expected to take up border issues with Chinese leaders.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited China in May past year during which both sides had resolved to further deepen ties in a range of areas.
“This is the cardinal principle of Indian diplomacy”, he said here, starting his four-day visit to China from a southern Chinese industrial hub.
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“China is ready to work with India to accelerate negotiations and resolve this historic issue at an early date to move forward bilateral relations”, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said, responding to Mr. Mukherjee’s remark that India wants a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable settlement to solve the border issue. A number of MoUs will be signed between academic institutions of both the countries. The Indian leader will address students at Peking University. The Indian President will be accompanied by delegation of esteemed academicians including directors of the Indian Institute of Technology and the Indian Institute of Management.
