PM Modi joining 'Weibo' will send message of friendship to China: Expert

Shrikant Kondapalli, an expert on China, on Monday lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's move to join the Chinese social media platform 'Weibo', and said it would send a message of friendship to Beijing.

"Prime Minister Modi is visiting China in May and the recent announcement that Prime Minister Modi is on 'Weibo', social networking site, is a major development. Unlike previous prime ministers, now Prime Minister Modi has access to roughly about 55 crore people who are a part of social networking sites in China," Kondapalli told ANI.

"So, I think, he can send his message of friendship to the Chinese people, and this is a major development that has happened. Although social networking sites in China are controlled by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, still, there is a window of opportunity here in terms of the spread of message by Prime Minister Modi," he added.

Talking about Prime Minister Modi's upcoming visit to China, the expert said the focus of agreements between the two sides would be in the economic field.

"The Prime Minister is going to China in May. The visit will have a lot of agreements, but mainly in the economic field, which is expected to strengthen bilateral relations further," he added.

According to reports, Prime Minister Modi will undertake a three-nation tour to China, Mongolia and South Korea from May 14 to 19.