Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrived in New Delhi today on a three day official visit to India.
He was received at the Palam airport by the Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahmed and Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai.
Li is accompanied by a high level delegation. The Chinese premier will have a restricted meeting with his Indian counterpart Dr Manmohan Singh this evening.
Dr Singh will host a dinner in honour of the visiting dignitary.
Li will hold delegation-level talks with Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Monday. Key international, regional and bilateral issues including boundary, river waters and market access under economic ties will figure during the talks.
Both the leaders are expected to discuss the entire gamut of India-China relations including the recent Chinese incursion in Ladakh.
On the eve of the Chinese Premier's visit, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, in an interview to Chinese state-run news agency, said that New Delhi is ready to write a new chapter of its relationship with Beijing.
He said the two countries should align their positions in many areas despite differences. Khurshid also said that Mr. Li's visit is special because it is his first visit abroad after assuming the office of Chinese premier in March.
AIR Correspondent reports that the visiting dignitary will call on President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhawan on Tuesday before leaving for Mumbai. The Chinese Premier will address a business meeting of the Captains of Indian Business and Industry there and also visit Tata Consultancy Services in Mumbai.
The state-run Chinese news agency Xinhua commenting on Li's India tour for the second day said that the visit comes close on the heels of the meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Durban on the sidelines of the BRICS summit held in March.
It said such a short time interval in top-level contacts between the two Asian giants gives the impression the “Chinese drag on and the Indian elephant are about to tango” toward better ties and closer cooperation.
It added that such a prospect would also bring extra glamour to multilateral frameworks such as BRICS, in which China and India are major players.
