It gives me great pleasure to extend a very warm welcome to you and the distinguished members of your delegation to India.

At the outset, I wish to congratulate you and the people of China for successfully organizing the 'Shanghai Expo' as well as the Asian Games this year. We were touched by Your Excellency's gesture of visiting the India Pavilion when you visited the Expo for its closing ceremony.

Excellency, this is your second visit to India, and I have no doubt that it will impart new impetus to our relationship and advance our cooperation in new areas. Your visit marks the culmination of the celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of our diplomatic relations. Earlier this year, the President of India paid a very successful visit to China.

Since 2005, our two countries have maintained an intensive high-level dialogue. Apart from my own bilateral visit to China in 2008, I have met Your Excellency and His Excellency President Hu Jintao close to twenty times in the last five years. This shows the intensity of our interactions.

Since your last visit in 2005, both our countries as well as the international situation has witnessed many changes. The rapid socio-economic transformation of India and China has opened up new opportunities to progress our relations across all fields. A strong partnership between India and China will contribute to long-term peace, stability, prosperity and development in Asia and the world.