Chinese President praises Narendra Modi's leadership, envoy conveys message

Chinese Foreign Minister and Special Envoy Wang Yi on Monday conveyed a message from his President to Prime Minister Narendra Modi praising his leadership and seeking "peaceful cooperation" and "inclusive development" by working together.

"Under your leadership, India will achieve greater development and progress. India and China are partners in long term strategic cooperation. Therefore, lets work together to achieve peaceful cooperation and inclusive development for the benefit of our two people and in the interest of peace, stability and prosperity in Asia and in the world," said the message of the Chinese President Xi Jinping conveyed by Wang who had a 45-minute meeting with Modi. In the message, Modi was congratulated for forming the new government.

The Prime Minister reciprocated by saying that India was looking forward "to working with Chinese leadership to expand our cooperation". Officials said the Prime Minister appreciated the message from the Chinese President which underlined the importance attached by the Chinese government to building relations with the new government of India.

It reaffirmed China's positive perception of India's role in the world and conveyed its expectation and desire for the future direction of bilateral relations as both countries pursue their respective developmental dreams, they said. Modi also reiterated to the Special Envoy India's invitation to President Xi to visit the country later this year. He also accepted Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang's invitation to pay an early visit to China.

The two sides will remain in touch through diplomatic channels to make necessary arrangements for these visits and for other meetings and exchanges of leaders on the sidelines of multilateral Summits, officials said. The Prime Minister also emphasised the potential for greater cooperation between India and China for a strong and prosperous Asia and to work for mutually beneficial trade and investment as economic partners.

He also talked about joining hands in various areas like counter-terrorism as neighbours, and promoting vigorous cultural exchanges as inheritors of ancient civilizations having extensive historical and spiritual contacts.

The Prime Minister said both the countries have strong civilisational contacts and "should build on it to enhance our understanding", according to officials who termed the meeting as "constructive".
Modi also talked about the visit of Chinese scholar Hiuen Tsang to his native place Vadnagar in the 7th century.

Wang, who has been sent here by the Chinese President as his Special Envoy to meet the new leadership, held three-hour-long talks with his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj on Sunday. The Modi government on Monday announced its plans to engage energetically with China and work to further develop strategic and cooperative partnership. The declaration came during President Pranab Mukherjee's address to Parliament outlining government agenda.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang was the first foreign Head of Government to call up Modi after he took over as Prime Minister. The Chinese Prime Minister had conveyed his government's desire to establish robust partnership with the new government during a call to Modi, who expressed keenness to work closely to deal with any "outstanding issues".

Modi had also noted that China was always a "priority" in India's foreign policy and welcomed greater economic engagement between the two countries. China has already conveyed its interest in having a top Indian leader attend the 60th anniversary of Panchsheel, the five principles enunciated jointly by former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and his then Chinese counterpart Zhou Enlai in 1954.

China is hosting a function to mark the occasion on June 28 in which a high-level delegation from Myanmar, which too was associated with Panchasheel concept, is expected to participsate. China had already conveyed to India its President's wish to visit New Delhi.

Xi and Modi will have an opportunity to meet during the next BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Summit to be held in Brazil in July. Chinese leadership shared familiarity with Modi as he visited China four times during his long tenure as Chief Minister of Gujarat. His victory in the general elections was widely welcomed in the Chinese official media.