India and China will on Monday afternoon hold the sixth
round of their strategic dialogue, with the talks expected to lay the
groundwork for a series of high-level engagements between the two
countries set to take place in coming months following the Lok Sabha
elections.
The message from officials of both
countries is that the dialogue here will stress continuity in ties at a
functional level even as political engagements remain on hold on account
of the elections.
Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh
will meet with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin on Monday
afternoon at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse here.
Besides
bilateral engagements, the dialogue will look at the entire breadth of
the relationship as well as common regional concerns such as the
situation in Afghanistan. India and China have expressed willingness to
do more to coordinate their efforts there, including on joint projects.
Following the dialogue with Mr. Liu, Ms. Singh will, later on Monday evening, call on Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
The
talks will also firm up what officials described as "a packed calendar"
of bilateral visits in the coming year, which is being marked as "a
year of friendly exchanges".
A highlight could be the
first visit by Chinese President and Communist Party General Secretary
Xi Jinping to India. Mr. Xi has expressed his desire to visit India
later this year on what would be his first trip to the country after
taking over as President in March 2013, as The Hindu first reported last month.
The
proposed visit is being seen as reflecting the new Chinese leadership's
intent to take ties forward with the new government in New Delhi that
will be in place after the Lok Sabha elections.
Monday's
strategic dialogue will be followed by a high-level military-level
dialogue in New Delhi next week, when a People's Liberation Army (PLA)
delegation led by the Deputy Chief of General Staff, Lieutenant General
Qi Jianguo, travels to India for DGMO-level talks on the boundary issue,
to be held on April 22.
The talks will also firm up
plans for annual defence exercises, which will be held in India later
this year. Chinese Defence Minister Chang Wanquan is also expected to
visit India later this year.
Next week, the two
Navies are also slated to have talks with a delegation from India set to
visit Qingdao, the northeastern headquarters of the PLA Navy's North
Sea fleet, where the PLA is hosting an international fleet review to
mark its 65th anniversary.
The stealth frigate INS Shivalik will participate in the review.
China
had invited India's Navy chief to Qingdao, but following the
resignation of Navy Chief D.K. Joshi a month ago and a successor yet to
be appointed, the Navy will send a "fairly high-ranking" officer to lead
the delegation, officials said.
ONIKA JAISWAL
PGDM 1ST YEAR
2013-15
SOURCE -THE HINDU
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