Chinese leadership keen to establish personal-level ties with PM Narendra Modi: Hamid Ansari

Describing his five-day bilateral visit to China as fruitful and productive, Vice President Hamid Ansari has said that the Chinese leadership is keen to establish personal-level contacts with India's new leadership.

"The Chinese leadership is keen to establish personal level contacts with our new leadership; it was mentioned to me by President Xi Jinping that he is looking forward to meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the forthcoming BRICS meeting. It was also hinted that sometime later the President of China would visit India," Ansari told media onboard a special aircraft on his way back to New Delhi from Beijing last night.

He further said China reacted positively to all issues of concern, including the border dispute, raised by India during bilateral talks.

"We discussed all items on the bilateral agenda. We conveyed our views, we put it across to them that the relationship with China has been a consistent item of policy of governments of India and continues to be an important item in the priorities of the new government," he added.

Ansari reached China on Thursday to hold bilateral discussions with his counterpart Li Yuanchao and to attend events to mark the 60th anniversary of Panchsheel Agreement.

This was the first visit of an Indian leader to China after Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, assumed office last month.

It was also Ansari's first visit to China and the first by an Indian Vice President since 1994. The then Vice President, K. R. Narayanan, had visited China in 1994.