New Delhi: Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in India on Wednesday on a three-day visit that would see trade and investment topping the agenda of talks between him and Prime Minister Narendra Modi besides other bilateral issues, including the festering border question.
Xi will arrive in Ahmedabad, the commercial capital of Gujarat state, on Wednesday at the head of a high-powered delegation.
In a first, Modi will receive the Chinese president in Ahmedabad after which the two sides are to sign some agreements related to the region.
The two leaders will leave for Delhi the same evening.
On Thursday, Modi and Xi would hold talks at Hyderabad House, which would be followed by the inking of several agreements, including on infrastructure and railways, between the two sides.
The talks between the two leaders come amid reports of Chinese civilians entering Indian territory in Demchok in Ladakh.
“All substantive issues which have a bearing on India-China relations will be discussed” between the two, the external affairs ministry spokesperson has said.
The Chinese president’s visit to India comes days after Modi’s successful Japan visit, during which the Japanese government committed to invest $35 billion (Dh128.53 billion) in India for development projects.
India and Japan also elevated their ties from a Strategic and Global Partnership to a Special Strategic and Global Partnership. Japan is locked in a bitter quarrel with China over some disputed islands in the East China Sea.
Among the accords expected to be inked during Xi’s visit is a sister city agreement between Ahmedabad and China’s most developed Guangdong province.
Both sides are also expected to announce the setting up of two industrial parks by China, one each in Gujarat and Maharashtra.
India-China trade totalled $66.4 billion last year, an equation that is heavily skewed in China’s favour.
India has voiced concern at the mounting trade deficit, which averaged $35 billion. China’s investments in India are at present around $400 million, mostly in Gujarat. China’s foreign exchange reserves, which are the largest in the world, touched $3.95 trillion earlier this year.
Beijing has announced plans to invest around $500 billion overseas in the next five years.
Xi’s visit comes at a time when Indian President Pranab Mukherjee is visiting Vietnam. China and Vietnam are not on the best of diplomatic terms over Beijing’s claim to the whole of the South China Sea.
On Monday, Modi extended his welcome to the Chinese president’s visit on twitter.
“On 17th, I look forward to welcoming President Xi Jinping in Ahmedabad. Am sure his visit will strengthen India-China ties,” Modi wrote.
Modi and Xi have met earlier, on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Brazil in July.
