Chinese Premier li Keqiang on Thursday congratulated newly appointed Prime Minister Narendra Modi, conveying his Government’s desire to establish a robust partnership with the new dispensation and strengthen ties.
li Kequing is the first foreign head of the Government to call up Modi after he took over the office of PM.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also received congratulatory calls from several of her counterparts including from US, UK, UAE, Australia, Canada, Israel and South Africa. The foreign ministers of all these countries called for improving bilateral relations with India in all .
In the 25-minute telephonic conversation with Modi, the Chinese Premier expressed desire to establish robust partnership with New Delhi, officials said here adding that the Indian Prime Minister noted that that China was always a priority in India’s foreign policy. The two leaders agreed to maintain frequent high-level interactions.
Meanwhile, China is expected to send its Foreign Minister Wang Yi to India as early as on June 8. He will meet Swaraj and other top leaders of the new Government, reports said adding he will come here as a Special Envoy of the Chinese Government. Incidentally, Modi enjoys special ties with China and received warm welcome when he visited Beijing as Gujarat Chief Minister.In the last few years China has made determined effort to reach out to India despite the cases of incursion. li Keqiang made New Delhi his first destination abroad last year.
Thanking li for his earlier message of felicitations on Monday, Modi underlined his Government’s resolve to utilise the full potential of “our strategic and cooperative partnership with China and his keenness to work closely with the Chinese leadership to deal with any outstanding issues in bilateral relations by proceeding from the strategic perspective of our developmental goals and long-term benefits to our peoples.”
The external affairs minister also engaged in ‘telephone diplomacy’ as she received calls from US Secretary of State John Kerry and her other counterparts from Australia, Canada, Israel, UAE, UK, South Africa.
Kerry, who called on Wednesday night, discussed re-energising of the India-US ties. The focus on the conversation was on enhancing trade and economic ties to USD 500 billion from current USD 100 billion, the Spokesperson in the External Affairs Ministry said.UK’s Foreign Secretary William Hague said his government sees that there are tremendous opportunities to deepen cooperation and looks forward to working with Swaraj.
Apart from Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, with whom she discussed the scope for widening bilateral trade ties as well as civil nuclear cooperation, Swaraj also received a call from Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, whom she invited to visit India for the next strategic dialogue.Foreign Minister of Israel Avigdor liberman congratulated Swaraj on her assumption of office and invited her to visit his country. According to external officials, the External Affairs Minister has accepted the invitation in principle. South African
Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane and UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan also called her.