Communist Party of China's delegation on a India visit

A high-level delegation of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has arrived for a tour to India as the two neighbouring nations are trying to mend bilateral ties.

Meng Xiaofeng, a close aide of Chinese President Xi Jinping, is leading the CPC delegation, which was received by Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh at the Hyderabad House on Friday.

The CPC delegation is likely to meet leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the opposition Congress as well as some other political parties.

Meng holds the office of deputy director of the general office of the Communist party of China's central committee.

He is perceived to be highly influential in the power structure in Beijing, ostensibly due to his close ties with the Chinese President.

He played a key "behind-the-scene" role in resolving India-China military face-off at Doklam Plateau in western Bhutan last year.

Raveesh Kumar, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, said that the visit of the CPC delegation led by Meng was yet another part of New Delhi's "sustained engagement" with China.

Beijing's persistent policy of shielding anti-India terrorists based in Pakistan from United Nations' sanctions, India's opposition to China's Belt-and-Road initiative and the 72-day-long face-off between the Indian Army and the Chinese People's Liberation Army in Doklam Plateau in western Bhutan brought the bilateral relations to a new low during 2017.

New Delhi and Beijing, however, tried to bring the ties back on track with several back-to-back engagements towards the end of the year.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had a bilateral meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi when he came to New Delhi to attend a Russia-India-China (RIC) trilateral talks on December 11.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval, hosted Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi for the 20th round of boundary negotiation in New Delhi on December 22.

Doval and Yang are Special Representative of India and China for boundary negotiations and strategic consultations.