Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s much awaited visit to China, a delegation from China’s Shaanxi province, which is also home province of the Chinese President Xi Jinping, headed by Zhao Zhengyong, provincial party chief (Shaanxi) of the ruling Communist Party of China met his counterpart and Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel on Friday.
The visit of the delegation to Prime Minister Modi’s home State is being seen as extremely important as, in a rare gesture, the Chinese President is keen on hosting Modi in his home province Shaanxi. As per the reports, the Chinese President wants to showcase historic past of Shaanxi’s capital Xian, which has over 2,000-year-old link with India.
Around 2,000 years ago renowned Buddhist monk Xuanzang travelled to India and brought Budhhism to China. He was a scholar, traveller and translator who describe the interaction between China and India in the early Tang Dynasty. He became famous for his seventeen year overland journey to India, which recorded in detail in the classic Chinese text Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, which in turn provided the inspiration for the novel Journey To The West written by Wu cheng’en during Ming dynasty, around nine centuries after Xuanzang’s death in 664. He spent final years in Shaanxi province.
His travel included united India, including Modern day Kandhaar (Gandhar), Peshawar (Purushapura), Khyber Pass, Sindh, lahore, Kashmir, Punjab, Mathura, Ayodhya, Odisha, places in modern day Bangladesh and other places towards Nepal. Meanwhile, on Friday Zhao Zhengyong called on Gujarat’s first woman Chief Minister and expressed desire to collaborate on skill-development initiatives of the Gujarat Government.
Both the leaders also talked in length about rich cultural heritage of both civilizations. They also talked about commencing Chinese visa centre in Gujarat. The Chinese leader also invited Gujarat Chief Minister to his province to strengthen bilateral relation between the two countries.