Diplomacy

PM Modi unveils e-visa for Chinese tourists

- by India Writes Network

BEIJING: In an important move that is poised to boost people-to-people contacts between Asia’s leading economies, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced New Delhi’s decision to grant e-visas to Chinese tourists.

“We have decided to extend electronic tourist visas to Chinese nationals,” the prime minister said while addressing students and faculty at the renowned Tsinghua University in Beijing on May 16.
There has been a constant increase in the number of Chinese travelers visiting the other neighboring countries like Nepal, Sri Lanka and Maldives. Where Nepal saw an increase of 70 percent, Sri Lanka witnessed a surge of 130 percent Chinese tourists flocking in the countries over the last year. However, India did not get many Chinese tourists, largely due to cumbersome visa procedures. Against this backdrop, India announced ‘Visit India Year’ in China’ with an aim to attract more Chinese tourists to the country and boost its tourism revenue.

China is home to the world’s largest Buddhist population, and the e-visa scheme is expected to sharply enhance the flow of Chinese tourists to ‘Land of Buddha.”

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India, China raise bar for economic ties, talk Asian century

- by Manish Chand

India and China have imparted a fresh momentum to their
burgeoning ties by signing over twenty agreements in diverse areas,
and raised the bar for their economic and strategic partnership by
placing their cooperation in the context of an emerging Asian century.
Beijing has launched a charm offensive to welcome India’s Prime
Minister Narendra Modi on his maiden visit to China. In a
first-of-its-kind gesture, China’s President Xi Jinping personally
welcomed Mr Modi in Xian, an ancient cultural city and hometown of the
Chinese leader, on May 14. And on the second day, Mr Modi was
accorded a captivating ceremonial welcome, with Premier Le Keqiang
accompanying the Indian leader for the tri-service guard of honour.
PM Modi’s maiden visit to China has been pitched as an opportunity to
create a new dynamic and architecture in relations between the two
Asian giants. “The leaders agreed that the simultaneous rise of India
and China as two major powers in the region and the world offers a
momentous opportunity for realization of the Asian century,” a joint
statement said after wide-ranging talks between Mr Modi and Premier
Li.

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Modi in Xi’an: Terracotta warriors, temple & Bollywood redefines diplomatic style

- by India Writes Network

What has set Prime Minister Modi’s China’s visit apart is that he seeks to maintain a fine balance between economics, politics, ideology, sentiment and symbolism. Modi’s choice of Xi’an as the first venue of his China visit depicts a much broader agenda of managing relations with Asia’s largest economy. Prime Minister Modi’s arrival in Xian is significant and a departure from protocol by the Chinese government. The fact that President Xi Jinping personally received Mr Modi in his hometown underscores the importance China is attaching to his visit.
The visit by the Indian prime minister to Xian is a milestone of sort. Prime Minister Modi and President Xi holding summit talks in restricted format in the ancient city of Xian, PM Modi’s interaction with people in the city, his use of Hindi in his address, the grand welcome accorded to him and the break of the protocol in hosting the Indian PM first in Xi’an – these features mark a different diplomatic style that bodes well for the future trajectory of the India-China relations.

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Modi’s China visit: Can India and China think differently?

- by India Writes Network

In the times of globalization and intertwining economic interests at regional and trans-regional levels, the cooperation and crisis management has become increasingly important for a sustainable domestic as well as external economic development and environment. No one denies the role played by confidence building measures (CBMs) in maintaining peace and tranquility along the border, avoiding conflict, and thus creating a congenial atmosphere for cooperation not only at bilateral level but also at regional and multilateral organizations. CBMs signed between India and China in 1993, 1996, 2005, 2012 and latest Border Defense Cooperation Agreement of 2013 is a pointer as most of the border negotiations have been held under the aegis of these mechanisms. However, the sensitive nature of the border has also called for ‘out of the box’ resolutions, for these have fallen short of finding a solution.
From bilateralism to multilateralism

It is owing to CBMs that India and China have struck some real convergence of interests on issues such as climate change, democratization of international financial institutions through multilateral forums such as Russia-China-India Strategic Triangle, Brazil; Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS); Brazil-South Africa-India-China (BASIC); the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF); East Asian Summits (EAS); G 20 and other multilateral forums such Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

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Ni Hao, China: Modi visit to remap India-China ties

- by Manish Chand

Ni Hao, China. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s maiden visit to China promises to be a captivating show, high on optics as well as substance, and is expected to coalesce diplomacy, culture, business, geopolitics and outreach to the Indian diaspora. When PM Modi touches down on the Chinese soil May 14, the Chinese people can hope to see and hear an Indian leader who has a flair for using innovative methods to connect and forge a new narrative of win-win opportunities between the two Asian giants.
Ahead of his trip, PM Modi has struck all the right notes that should endear him to the Chinese leadership and ordinary Chinese people. He has become the first Indian leader and only the second world leader to sign on to Sina Weibo – the Chinese version of microblogging platform twitter. “Hello China! Looking forward to interacting with Chinese friends through Weibo,” said the prime minister in his first post on Sina Weibo.
A journey of a thousand miles, as a Chinese proverb says, begins with a small step. The two Asian giants have gone beyond inches and are now making rapid strides to clock MILES, what Prime Minister Modi has famously called the Millennium of Exceptional Synergy as they walk hand-in-hand in the unfolding journey of an Asian century. This is, after all, the journey of two and a half billion people and their soaring dreams.

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