Differences will not get in the way of economic ties

Amid all the gloom of the global economic slowdown, India has emerged as one of the few bright spots with robust growth of 7.5 percent in 2016.

Yet even more notable is the explosive rise in China's direct investment in the neighboring country, which reached $1.06 billion last year, a staggering fivefold increase compared with the previous year.

Much of that capital has gone into the telecommunications, energy, steel and infrastructure sectors. By the end of 2016, according to reports, China's cumulative investment in India reached $4.8 billion, double the figure recorded two years before.