External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called on Chinese President Xi Jinping, who expressed full confidence in Sino-Indian relations, hoping that “new progress” would be made in the ties in the new year.
“I have full confidence in India-China relations and I believe that new progress will be achieved in growing this bilateral relationship in this New Year,” Xi told Swaraj, who called on him at the cavernous Great Hall of the People here on her maiden visit to the communist nation after she assumed charge last year.
Xi said China and India had taken “solid steps” to make new progress in bilateral ties besides implementing the agreements reached between him and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He said that since his visit to India in September last year, relations between the two countries had entered into a new stage of growth.
“The positive side of India-China relations has been growing and momentum of our cooperation has been strengthening and solid steps are being taken to implement agreements reached between Prime Minister Modi and I,” he said as he welcomed the 62-year-old leader.
One such solid step taken was Sunday’s exchange of notes on modalities for opening the second route for the Kailash-Manasarovar Yatra in Tibet via Sikkim by June, that will allow more Indians to undertake the pilgrimage.
Xi had promised opening the new route to Modi during the former’s maiden visit to New Delhi last year.
Recalling fond memories of his India visit, Xi told Sushma Swaraj: “Last September I visited India and cherish fresh memories about the gracious hospitality extended to me by government and people of India. “In particular, I cherish the memories of Prime Minister Modi’s home province Gujarat and the prime minister himself accompanied me on that trip.”