Indian president to visit China

By Manish Chand, IANS,

Yekaterinburg : A day after Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met Chinese President Hu Jintao here, India Tuesday announced the visit of President Pratibha Patil to Beijing and stressed the two countries shared common approaches on a range of global issues.


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The president will visit China later this year, India’s Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon told reporters.

Patil is set to visit Beijing in August, official sources said. Dates are yet to be finalised, they added.

Downplaying fears of the China threat, Menon said the two countries are set to step up their cooperation in forging a new global financial architecture and addressing emerging challenges like climate changes.

The two countries also decided to convene an early meeting of the joint economic group led by commerce secretaries of the two countries, Menon said.

The economic group will address some controversial issues like the allegedly fake drugs sold by Chinese companies in the African market under the ‘Made in India’ label, informed sources said.

Briefing reporters on the meeting between Manmohan Singh and Hu Monday, that stretched close to midnight, Menon said although there are difficult issues, the two countries are finding a greater congruence on global issues.

The prime minister said both India and China are playing an increasingly important role in stability of the international system.

The Chinese president congratulated the prime minister on his re-election and underlined his desire to deepen strategic partnership between the two countries, Menon said.

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