Sushma Swaraj leaves for home after concluding maiden China visit
Beijing: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday left for home after concluding a four-day visit to China during which she met President Xi Jinping and held talks with her counterpart to make preparations for the Prime Minister’s visit to the country expected to take place in May.
Swaraj along with Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar left this morning winding up her maiden visit to China.
During her stay here, Swaraj met President Xi who expressed full confidence in Sino-India relations, hoping that “new progress” would be made in the ties in the new year.
“I have full confidence in India-China relations and I believe that new progress will be achieved in growing this bilateral relationship in this new year,” Xi told Swaraj.
The 61-year-old Chinese President, who is also the General Secretary of the ruling Communist Party, conveyed his best wishes to the Indian leadership.
Swaraj also held talks with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on key issues and emphasised that maintenance of peace and tranquillity at the border was a pre-requisite for the development of ties.
Besides holding talks with top Chinese leadership, Swaraj also attended the Russia, India, China (RIC) Foreign Ministers meeting during which the three countries reached a broader understanding to fight terrorism.
Russia and China also extended their backing for India’s inclusion in the 21-member Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) as well as Shanghai Cooperation Organisation besides supporting its aspiration to play a greater role in the UN.
