PRESS RELEASE
Modi’s Three-Day China Trip Gets Strong Support in India
May 17, 2015 (EIRNS)—Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s three-day (May 14-16) visit to China, a crucial step forward to enhance security-related trust and economic cooperation between the two nations, has received wide acclaim in the Indian media. Indian media analysts took particular note of Chinese President Xi Jinping receiving Modi at the ancient Chinese capital, Xi’an, which is Xi’s hometown, and some called it a "historic moment."
The visit resulted in Chinese banks, corporations, and the government signing agreements to invest more than $32 billion in India, endorsing Prime Minister Modi’s "Make in India" campaign. In addition, during his discussions with the top Chinese leaders, Modi pushed for a resolution to the dispute over the long China-India borders, and received positive response. Modi repeatedly called for taking up the historic opportunity to join hands to usher in an Asian century and urged the Chinese leaders to look ahead and not to the past.
Retired Indian Army Lt. Gen. Ramesh Chopra, a security analyst, described the Xi-Modi summit as the third milestone in bilateral relations after the visits to China made by then-Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1954 and then-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1988, Xinhua reported.
"Xi’an was the start point of the old Silk Road and the convergence of Indian and Chinese civilizations. Xi and Modi met there and were standing on a new start point of history in the relations between the two countries. The summit has a groundbreaking role,"
Chopra said.
Another BJP Member of Rajya Sabha (Upper House of the Indian Parliament) told Xinhua that,
"if there already exists a solid basis of bilateral ties, the leaders of the two countries have put new stimulus into the relations on such a basis ... our relations have entered a high-speed track."
Another endorsement of the trip came from Ranjit Gupta, former Indian Ambassador to China. He said:
"The economic and trade agreements, especially agreement to develop railway, the decision to establish consulates in Chengdu by India and Chennai by China, as well as the decision to promote Chinese language learning in India, are all flash points in the agreement reached by the two sides."
