India, China to sign MoUs on water resources, culture

India and China will sign two memorandums of understanding (MoUs) on water resources and culture during the ongoing visit of Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao, the external affairs ministry said on Thursday.

"Vice President of China Li Yuanchao is on a visit to India from November 3 to 7. This is the first visit to India by a Chinese vice president in last 60-plus years," the ministry's spokesperson Vikas Swarup said at a media briefing here.

Li, who will arrive in New Delhi late on Thursday, will hold a meeting with Vice President Hamid Ansari on Friday.

"Tomorrow he will have discussions with Vice President Hamid Ansari followed by an agreement signing ceremony where the two leaders will witness the signing of MoUs in the fields of water resources and culture," Swarup said.

"Vice President Li will also call on the prime minister and the president," he said.

According to the spokesperson, the visit of the Chinese vice president is part of the intensification of high-level exchanges between India and China.

"Since the formation of the new government in May 2014, Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi has met (Chinese) President Xi Jinping five times and Premier Li Keqiang twice," Swarup said, adding that Vice President Ansari paid a visit to China in June last year.

Vice President Li arrived in Aurangabad on Tuesday and visited the Ajanta Caves on Wednesday.

"Last evening, he travelled to Kolkata. In Kolkata, he paid a visit to Jorashanko Thakurbari which is the ancestral home of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore," Swarup said.

Li is also scheduled to meet West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi.

"These visits highlight the deep cultural linkages - ancient as well as contemporary - between our two countries. The visit of Rabindranath Tagore to China in 1924 is still remembered in China," Swarup said.