Chinese President receives Guard of Honour at Rashtrapati Bhawan

Chinese President Xi Jinping received a Guard of Honour on Thursday in the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhawan, on the second day of his three-day state visit to India.

President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and other senior cabinet members were also present at the ceremony.

Post the ceremony, the Chinese President said, "This is my first visit as the President of China. I will focus on three goals; first goal is to carry forward our friendship. We admire and respect each other's civilization, it's important we deepen our mutual respect."

"We have common development goals, it's important we deepen the alignment of our development strategies. India and China can create opportunities for the world. We need to take our strategic partnership to higher levels," he added.

India and China are scheduled to hold delegation-level talks here today with the objective of expanding bilateral cooperation and strengthening ties.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to discuss important regional and international issues during the talks.

The Chinese President, who is accompanied by his wife, Peng Liyuan will also visit Rajghat to pay homage at the memorial dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi.

It is expected that the talks will be focused on boosting trade and investments, besides a discussion on substantive issues, including the unresolved boundary question.

It is being reported that China is keen to invest its money in upgrading India's railway infrastructure, industrial parks, power generation and smart cities.

India on the other hand will be keen to seek market access in China for its IT and pharma companies and attract Chinese investment to reduce its mounting trade deficit.

Both sides are also expected to discuss cooperation in civil nuclear energy.