A timely shot in the arm for Sino-Indian ties

Indians keenly followed the wide coverage given by the Chinese media to the general elections and the subsequent leadership change in India. The importance that the new Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attaches to China can be gauged from the fact that Premier Li Keqiang was the first head of government with whom he talked over the phone after assuming office. During the conversation the two leaders shared their thoughts and ideas, which have a bearing on bilateral relations, and Li invited Modi to visit China later this year.

It is against this backdrop that India's Vice-President Hamid Ansari is visiting China from June 26 to 30. Ansari will participate in the 60th anniversary of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence (known as the Panchsheel Treaty in India), hold discussions with his Chinese counterpart Li Yuanchao, and call on President Xi Jinping during his five-day visit. India and China, together with Myanmar, had enunciated the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence in 1954.

The position of the vice-president is only second to that of the president in the protocol of India's official hierarchy. It is in this capacity that Ansari, who participated in the launch of the India-China Year of Friendly Exchanges in New Delhi on Feb 11, is attending the Panchsheel events in Beijing on June 28-29.