PM to visit Beijing to intensify relationship with China

BEIJING: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to visit China in October, making it his second visit in 10 months since he held parleys with Chinese leaders in Beijing in January. He is expected to attend the ASEM7 Summit being organised by the Asia Europe Meeting on October 24 and 25. He is expected to meet Chinese leaders including premier Wen Jiabo besides leaders of several Asian and European nations. Singh will go to Beijing after the Chinese foreign minister Yang Jiechi's planned visit to Kolkata in September. Yang, who is scheduled to open the Chinese consulate office in Kolkata, is also expected to meet External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on the occasion. Officials in the two countries are engaged in working out the modalities for a meeting between the two foreign ministers. Though the 45-member ASEM is gradually growing in influence since its creation 12 years back, it is by itself not so important for the Prime Minister to attend the meeting, which is usually left to the foreign minister. It is the venue of the meeting that is more significant from the viewpoint of Indian leaders keen on enhancing relationship with Beijing at a time with China's "all-weather friend" Pakistan is in political chaos. Besides the nuclear deal, the Prime Minister wants to leave behind an improved relationship with China as one of the legacies of his government, informed sources said. Yang's interest in visiting India goes beyond enhancing the trade ties by enlarging the area of Chinese consular influence to eastern and north-eastern India with an office in Kolkata. He is expected to discuss issues such as Tibet and the river water issue on the upper reaches of Brahmaputra. The planned visits by Singh and Yang not only signals an intensification of communication between the two nations, but also shows that the two governments are determined to sort out their differences concerning the border and other issues and work together at the international level. Though arrangements are being made for the Prime Minister's visit, a final announcement is being withheld because New Delhi wants to watch China's moves with regard to efforts being made by India to obtain the backing of Nuclear Suppliers Group on its nuclear deal with the United States. China, which has considerable influence at the NSG, has indicated it is not going to block India's efforts on this count. The political upheavals in Pakistan have also ensured that Beijing would be wary about listening to Islamabad in determining its approach to India's nuclear case, sources pointed out. But New Delhi is still keeping its fingers crossed and would wait to see the final outcome at the NSG. Last June, Mukherjee opened the office of the Consulate General in Guangzhou, making it India's third consular outpost besides the consulate in Shanghai and the embassy in Beijing. The decision to open consulate offices by the two countries in Guangzhou and Kolkata was taken during Chinese President Hu Jintao visited India in November 2006. The two countries signed an agreement, which said, "In order to sustain, facilitate and promote greater engagement between the two countries, an additional Consulate General shall be opened in each other's country. The Indian side shall open a new Consulate General in Guangzhou while the Chinese side shall open a new Consulate General in Kolkata. In this context, the mutually satisfactory resolution of the long-pending issue of the property of the Consulate General of India in Shanghai is a positive development."
source:TOI