Ansari to hold talks with Chinese counterpart tomorrow

Vice President Hamid Ansari will hold talks with his Chinese counterpart Li Yuanchao on a host of issues tomorrow after which the two sides will be signing agreements in the field of water resources and culture, the External Affairs Ministry said today.
Li, who arrived in India on November 3 in a first visit in more than six decades by any Chinese Vice President, will call on President Pranab Mukherjee apart holding a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"The visit of a Chinese Vice President is part of the intensification of high-level exchanges between India and China.
"This is a first visit to India by a Chinese Vice President in last the 60 plus years... Tomorrow he will have discussions with the Vice President followed by an agreement signing ceremony where the two leaders witness the inking of MoUs in the fields of water resources and culture," the Spokesperson in the External Affairs Ministry said.

When asked if the water resource pact will include exchange of information on Brahmaputra river, the Spokesperson said it was renewal of agreement dealing with sharing hydrological data on Satluj.
Under the cultural pact, India will hold exhibition of art from the Gupta period, which was known as "golden period" in the country and during which famous Chinese traveller Fa Hien came, the Spokesperson said.

Li has visited Aurangabad and Kolkata before his travel to the national capital.
In Aurangabad, the Chinese Vice President visited the Ajanta Caves and also met the city mayor.
In Kolkata, he met West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today. He also visited Jorasanko Thakur Bari, the ancestral home of Rabindranath Tagore which is now part of Rabindra Bharati University campus.

He will also address a group of Indian and Chinese entrepreneurs here.