Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to visit India

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit India this month with an aim to boost cooperation between the two countries.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said Wang will be in India as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, in a recent meeting, decided that the foreign ministers of the two countries should meet.

Sources said Wang will be in India around December 20.

Modi and Xi met on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Argentina on November 30.

In the meeting, they concurred that there had been a "perceptible improvement" in bilateral ties after their Wuhan summit and both sides are optimistic that 2019 would be an even better year for India-China relations.

They also discussed joint efforts to further enhance mutual trust and friendship between the two neighbours.

"This visit of the Chinese Foreign Minister is taking place following a meeting between the Prime Minister and President Xi... At that meeting, it was decided that the two foreign ministers should meet," Kumar said.

On Tuesday, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale held talks here with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou and reviewed the progress made in the bilateral ties since the Wuhan summit between Modi and Xi.

In their informal summit in Chinese city of Wuhan in April, Modi and Xi decided to issue "strategic guidance" to their militaries to strengthen communications so that they can build trust and understanding.

The informal summit had taken place seven months after the Doklam standoff.

Troops of India and China were locked in a 73-day face-off in Doklam from June 16 last year after the Indian side stopped the building of a road in the disputed area by the Chinese Army. The impasse ended on August 28.