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Almost a week before completing a year in office, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is embarking upon a trip to China. This will be his first visit to China as the Prime Minister. This three-day trip to China is part his six-day long tour to China, Mongolia and South Korea. The government has made it quite clear that the China visit is mainly aimed at augmenting Chinese investments into India is areas such infrastructure, power and tourism among others.
A day before his departure, foreign secretary S. Jaishankar said that all bilateral issues will be taken up with China during the summit-level meeting between Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping. In a return gesture to Modi, Xi has invited him to hold the meeting in his hometown Xi'an in the Shaanxi province on May 14. When Xi had visited India in September last year, Modi and Xi held their bilateral meeting in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
Modi will be meeting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on May 15 when both sides are expected to sign a plethora of inter-governmental agreements which is expected to be worth $10 billon. The following day Modi will be traveling to Shanghai where he is scheduled to meet the who's who of Chinese industry resulting in signing of trade and investment deals. China has already committed an investment of $20 billion spread over five years.
INDIA
Jawaharlal Nehru
October 1954
This historical visit by the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to China came in the backdrop of the establishment of diplomatic ties with China in April 1950. During this visit Nehru met Chinese Prime Minister Zhou Enlai. Interestingly, after receiving Nehru at the Beijing airport both drove in an open car which was being cheered by millions of Chinese forming a beeline to have a glimpse of the Indian Prime Minister. Both leaders India-China agreement over Tibet was signed with both countries stating their respective positions on the border and setting up posts subsequently. Both sides vowed to maintain peace along their long border to ensure India’s domestic economic growth, rather than any aggressive posturing.
Rajiv Gandhi
September 1988
This five-day visit by yet another Indian Prime Minister post Nehru helped significantly improving the India-China bilateral relationship post a bitter border conflict in 1962. During his visit, Gandhi met his Chinese counterpart Li Peng. It was high in symbolism clearly indicating a betterment of ties. Both sides also decided to restart the dialogue process on security issues marking an improvement in the strenuous ties. The visit marked a new beginning. Prior to his visit, both countries held eight round of talks on the border dispute. At the end of his visit, it was announced that both sides have achieved a breakthrough of sorts on finding a solution to the border issue. Gandhi was learnt to even hold a 90-minute long meeting with Deng Xiaoping, a rare feat for the latter. By then Deng had taken the coveted position of chairman Mao Zedong inviting similar kind of admiration. For the first time, India and China decided to set up a Joint Working Group (JWG) to deal with the boundary dispute.
PV Narasimha Rao
1993
The historical Agreement on the Maintenance of Peace and Tranquility along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on the India-China Border Areas got signed. Under this both countries agreed for the first time that they would respect the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and not encourage military confrontations with each other in the Himalayan region. India and China also agreed to set up the India-China Expert Group of Diplomatic and Military officers to assist the Joint Working Group (JWG). Prior to his visit, then President R. Venkataraman made a six-day visit to China, making him the first Indian president to have visited China.
Atal Behari Vajpayee
February 1979 & July 2003
In 1979 Vajpyaee, who was then the foreign minister, visited Peking to meet Deng Xiaoping. The visit is seen as ‘surprise’ stance by India, especially at a time when China had invaded Vietnam, similar to what it did with India in 1962. But it was largely seen as thawing moment as this was first visit by any Indian minister post the 1962 war. But it was nevertheless regarded as one of the important visits by an Indian minister that contributed in breaking the ice on the bilateral ties that had settled in after the war.
However, in June 2003, his visited was heralded as a ‘historic visit’ when he met his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao and both sides signed several agreements that later came to be regarded as turning point in India-China history. The trip was instrumental in bringing Delhi and Beijing closer to each other as both decided to not to view each other as ‘threats’. A Border Trade Agreement was signed. Besides, both leaders also decided to appoint their respective Special Representatives (SRs) to explore a solution in the border issue under the framework of boundary settlement. In a significant move, India agreed to recognize Tibet as part of China. The following year, China also accepted Sikkim as an integral part of India thereby marking substantial improvement in the India-China ties. Prior to Vajpayee’s visit, India and China had signed the ‘Declaration on Principles for Relations and Comprehensive Cooperation Between the Republic of India and the Peoples Republic of China’ in Beijing on June 23, 2003.
Manmohan Singh
January 2008 & October 2013
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited China twice in his capacity as India’s Prime Minister. The Singh-led government had made several attempts to garner popular support in frame public opinion on a possible and mutually acceptable solution to the border dispute. In 2008, which was his first visit there, a joint document titled "A Shared Vision for the 21st Century" was issued to expedite the process of cooperation, especially in economic and business. Subsequently in 2013 agreements relating to border, trans-border Rivers, establishing service centers for servicing power equipment in India, road transport and Nalanda University were signed. Also signed were three agreements establishing sister-city partnership between Delhi-Beijing, Kolkata Kunming and Bangalore-Chengdu.
Narendra Modi (Scheduled)
May 2015
This will be Modi’s first visit to China as Prime Minister. During the three-day trip, he will be holding his third bilateral meeting with President Xi in his hometown in Xi’an in Shaanxi province. He will also be meeting Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing and sign several agreements followed by a series of meetings with the Chinese business leaders in Shanghai.
China
Zhou Enlai
May 1960
This visit by the former Chinese Prime Minister was symbolic in diminishing the public animosity among each other. Prior to his visit, Chinese official were understood to have prepared a draft note for the leader on India’s political and economic situation. It stated that the Indian economy was fast deteriorating and rich and poor divide was widening with Indian policies gradually turning towards the right. During the visit Zhou Enlai tried to settle the border dispute peacefully by offering a package deal, which accepted the McMohan Line in the eastern sector but in bargain wanted India to accept their claims in the Aksai Chin region of the western sector. Experts believe that had Nehru accepted the offer, the war of 1962 could have been averted.
Li Peng
December 1991
This was the first visit by a Chinese Premier to India in last 31 years. It was basically intended to return former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s visit to China in 1988. During his week-long visit to India, Peng emphasized on the “good neighbourly” and “friendly relations” with India thereby upholding the five principles of peaceful coexistence or ‘Panchsheel’ launched by both sides jointly in 1950.
Jiang Zemin
1996
This was largely symbolic, however, it was the first visit by a Chinese head of state since the establishment of diplomatic relationship in 1950.
Zhu Rongji
January 2002
Zhu’s six-day trip to India came in the backdrop of rising tensions between India and Pakistan. He was accompanied by a high-level Chinese business delegation. China was also very critical of the Parliament attack. He met then Prime Minister Vajpayee and both were learnt to have a five-hour long meeting discussing all aspects of the bilateral ties. During this visit, China hinted at being flexible in recognizing Sikkim as integral part of India while officials were directed to work on a draft for internal talks. Zhu was revered in China for bringing about an economic transformation in China. During the visit, he had also visited Agra, Bangalore and Mumbai. He was the first Chinese leader to have visited the Infosys campus where he was greeted by a standing ovation by the employees. He had set a target of $10 billion worth of bilateral trade between India and China in the near future.
Wen Jiabao
April 2005 & December 2010
During the April 2005 visit of Premier Jiabao, the two sides established a Strategic and Cooperative Partnership for Peace and Prosperity, while the signing of an agreement on Political Parameters and Guiding Principles, signaled the successful conclusion of the first phase of SR Talks. In December 2010, both sides set a target of achieving bilateral trade worth $100 billion by 2015. However, irritants in the bilateral ties continued to persist with China’s increasing support to Pakistan concerning the respective border disputes. During this trip Wen brought with him one of the largest ever business delegation to India exploring investment opportunities. Before leaving for India, Wen said he was looking forward to “promote friendship” between India and China and “deepen” the relationship.
Hu Jintao
November 2006
In 2006 both sides signed a joint declaration containing a ten-pronged strategy to intensify cooperation. Both sides also agreed to double bilateral trade to $40 billion by 2010 and encourage two-way investments. This year both India and China for the first time ever agreed to expedite talks for having a regional trade agreement and also commissioned a joint feasibility study. This visit took place at a time when India-China ties were at its peak, as a year prior to this visit China had agreed that Sikkim is a part of India. However, the visit was marred by arrest of Tibetans for alleged Chinese atrocities in Tibet.
Li Keqiang
May 2013
During this visit both sides signed eight agreements, including the one on establishing Chinese industrial parks across India for the first time augmenting Chinese investments into India and promoting India’s manufacturing sector. Both sides designated year 2014 as the Year of Friendly Exchanges between India and China. Tomark this special year, Glimpses of India Festival is being organized in twelve cities across China through 2014 showcasing Indian performing arts, exhibitions of modern Indian arts, depictions of Buddhism links between the two countries, food and film festivals.
Xi Jinping
September 2014
This was the first ever visit by President Xi to India in his present capacity. A total of 16 agreements were signed during the visit in various sectors including, commerce & trade, railways, space-cooperation, pharmaceuticals,audio-visual co-production, culture, establishment of industrial parks,sister-city arrangements etc. The two sides also signed a MoU to open an additional route for Kailash Mansarovar Yatra through Nathu La. The Chinese side agreed to establish two Chinese Industrial Parks in India and expressed their intention to enhance Chinese investment in India.
The two sides discussed full range of issues in the bilateral relationship, including political and security issues, economic relations and people-to-people contacts. Prime Minister raised concern over repeated incidents along the border. The two leaders agreed that peace and tranquility in the border region constitutes an essential foundation for mutual trust and confidence and for realizing the full potential of our relationship. It was suggested that clarification of Line of Actual Control would greatly contribute to the efforts to maintain peace and tranquility.
