Expectations from India, China to lead Asia, usher in Asian century: Swaraj

With regional and international role of India and China evolving, there are expectations from the two countries to lead Asia and usher in an Asian century, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said Thursday.

Swaraj made the assertion in her message that was read out at the the inaugural session of the third India-China Think-Tanks Forum being hosted by the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) from December 20-21 here.

Her remarks came ahead of Chinese Foreign Minister Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit to India to attend the first meeting of the High Level Mechanism on People-to-People Exchanges.

Talking about the visit at a media briefing, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said this was the first such meeting that will be co-chaired by Swaraj and Wang and the decision to establish the forum was taken at the Wuhan summit between Prime Minister Modi and President Xi Jinping.

There will be a bilateral meeting between the External Affairs Minister and her Chinese counterpart after which they will deliver their statements.

The opening remarks at the inaugural session of the India-China Think-Tanks Forum were delivered by Ambassador T.C.A. Raghavan, DG, ICWA, and Gao Peiyong, Vice President, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Messages from the Indian and Chinese Foreign ministers were also read out at the start of this year's edition themed "Civilization Connect towards an Asian Century".

"Through quality deliberations in its last two editions, this forum has established itself as a useful framework for regular and continuous discussions between our academics and scholars, and has enabled them to provide structured advice and recommendations to governments of both sides," Swaraj said in her message read out by Pranay Verma, Joint Secretary, MEA.

These discussions which are held in the spirit of friendship and openness have greatly contributed to enhancing mutual trust and understanding between our two countries, she said.

"As our relations our deepening and our regional and international role evolving, there are expectations from our two countries to lead Asia and usher in an Asian century," the minister said.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang, in his message read out by the Chinese Ambassador Luo Zhaohui, said the think tank forum has helped in deepening mutual understanding and enhancing mutual trust between the two countries.

Ambassador Luo said following the Wuhan summit, relations were on the right track.