Vice President Ansari to embark on China visit from June 26

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin on Wednesday said Vice President M. Hamid Ansari would undertake a five-day official visit to China from Thursday.

He said Vice President Ansari would visit from June 26 to June 30 at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Li Yuanchao.

"This is Vice President Hamid Ansari's first visit to China. Also, for your information, the last visit of a vice-president of India to China was in 1994 by K. R.Narayanan. The vice-president, as is usual, will be accompanied by a high level delegation. The Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Commerce and Industry, Nirmala Seetharaman, along with four Members of Parliament will be with him (Vice -President). In addition, the vice-president's delegation will have senior officials and Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh, the secretary to the vice president and Gautam Bambawale, Joint Secretary, East Asia," Akbaruddin said.

"Vice President will be visiting Xian, and in addition, will be visiting Beijing. Xian is part of Shaanxi province. The vice president's visit will have two components. There is a bilateral component, whereby, he will be ceremonially received by his counterpart with a guard of honour. he will have delegation level talks with Chinese officials led by his counterpart. During this discussion, both sides are expected to discuss matters of bilateral interest," Akbaruddin added.

"Vice President is also expected to meet the Chinese Prime Minister as well as call on President. Apart from bilateral aspects of his visit, he will also participate in a trilateral summit on behalf of India. At the meeting will be host China and Myanmar. This summit is to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Panchsheel. Many of you are aware that Panchsheel was originally enunciated in a trade agreement between India and the Tibet region of China in April 1954. Also, it was issued as a part of a joint statement on 28 June 1954 during the visit of Prime Minister of China, Zhou Enlai to India. Similarly on June 29, it was adapted as China Myanmar joint statement in Yangoon and hence the 60th anniversary of these two events are being celebrated in China. Vice President Ansari will meet Myanmar President," Akbaruddin further added.

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The visit by the vice president Ansari, during the Year of India- China Friendly Exchanges, will strengthen the strategic and cooperative partnership between the two countries.