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January 12, 2008
New Delhi

PM's statement prior to his Departure for China

I will be paying an official visit to China at the invitation of Premier Wen Jiabao from January 13 to 15, 2008. During my visit, I look forward to calling on His Excellency Mr. Hu Jintao, President of the People's Republic of China, and meeting with His Excellency Mr. Wu Bangguo, Chairman of the National People's Congress. I will hold bilateral discussions with Premier Wen Jiabao on matters of mutual interest.

China is our largest neighbour and also a focal point of our "Look East" policy. We attach high priority to strengthening our relations with China. We established a Strategic and Cooperative Partnership for Peace and Prosperity when Premier Wen Jiabao visited India in April 2005. During President Hu Jintao's visit in November 2006 we laid down a ten-pronged strategy to qualitatively upgrade our bilateral ties.

Our bilateral relations are now poised to enter a vibrant and dynamic phase, based on a common recognition that the growth and development of both India and China will make positive and long term contributions to regional and global peace, security and stability. We share a desire to enhance our relationship both bilaterally and at the global level.

I look forward to my discussions with the Chinese leadership on the entire gamut of our relationship. We are engaged in the process of giving substantive content to our partnership through comprehensive economic engagement and developing mutually beneficial cooperation in the areas of science and technology, culture, education, defence and security, and increasing people-to-people contacts. Issues relating to the boundary and cooperation with regard to trans-boundary rivers will be discussed. I will be discussing how we can work more closely with China on regional, multilateral and global issues.

I look forward to my visit. It is my belief that regular Summit level interaction with China contributes to strengthening our cooperative engagement and enhancing mutual trust and understanding.