Prez to undertake 4-day visit to China next week

China's stand on India's membership of the elite Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and its action in blocking the UN move put JeM chief Masood Azhar on the list of global terrorist may come up for discussions when President Pranab Mukherjee makes a four-day visit to China from May 24.
"It is an important relationship, it is an important visit. And as it happens in all these visits, we discuss all issues of interest," Pradeep Kumar Rawat, Joint Secretary (East Asia) in the Ministry of External Affairs told reporters.
At a media briefing ahead of the visit, journalists asked officials whether the issue of China's opposition to India's membership of the NSG, whose meeting is being held in June, will be raised during Mukherjee's meetings with top Chinese leaders.

Asked whether the issue of Masood Azhar will also be raised, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said both sides are in communication with each other.
To a question about the reported remarks of a Chinese Embassy official here today that China gets concerned when Indian ships enter the South China Sea, Rawat said Indian ships entering that area is normal and when it happens, there is nothing unusual about it.
Officials described the President's visit as important

and one that will seek to underscore the growing bilateral ties in business, industry and people-to-people sectors. He will also be meeting President Xi Jinping, Premier Le Keqiang and the Chairman of the National People's Congress.

Presidential Spokesman Venu Rajamoni said the Chinese side was rolling the red carpet as every engagement of his would be marked by the presence of a top leader.
This will be the first visit of Mukherjee to China as President though he had visited the country a number of times in different capacities. The last Presidential visit to China was by Pratibha Patil in 2010.
Rawat said during Xi Jinping's visit to India in 2014, it was agreed to establish closer industrial ties with China announcing investment of USD 20 billion in India in five years.
"Since then, the momentum of high-level visit has been maintained," said Rawat.

Mukherjee will begin his visit by arriving in the highly industrialised Chinese city of Guangzhou on May 24. The city which has strong business links with India has an economy of over USD 1 trillion.
He will be the first Indian leader to visit Guangzhou where Chan Buddhism originated and later spread to Japan and Korea.
Besides interacting with the Indian community, which has over 3,000 businessmen, Mukherjee will also addressIndia- China Business Forum to highlight the investment opportunities in India.
There, the President will have meetings with the Governor who is also the party secretary who will host a lunch for him in his honour.

On the second leg of the visit, he will travel to Beijing where he will hold wide-ranging talks with the Chinese leadership on key bilateral, regional and global issues.
"A key engagement of the President will be a roundtable of Vice Chancellors of Chinese and Indian universities which is being organised in China for the first time," Rawat said adding a number of MoUs will be signed between academic institutions of both the countries.
In Beijing, the President will also be talking to students of Peking university.
Mukherjee will be accompanied by a delegation of academicians including Vice Chancellors of two central universities as well as heads of IIT- Delhi and Bhubaneshwar, IIM, Ahmedabad and NIT Nagpur and Agartala.

Union Minister Santosh Ganwar and four MPs will also accompany the President as part of the delegation.