Contact is taking a holiday!

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit China in May this year.

“Modiji is going to come in May. I will give them dates today. This is a preparatory visit,” she told the media after addressing the Indian community.

She said her maiden visit to China also focussed on opening the additional route for the Kailash Manasorvar Yatra for which preparations are on. The route is expected to provide more comfortable journey experience to pilgrims with a facility to travel to Kailash-Manasarovar directly by buses.

Media’s role in promoting Sino-Indian ties

Ms. Swaraj also highlighted the role media could play to promote ties between India and China, especially on the positive aspects of the relation between the two Asian giants.

Ms. Swaraj kicked off her China visit with an address to a media forum, alongside Chinese Information Minister Jiang Jianguo, where she spoke about media’s role in promoting “each other’s interests and view points.”

“This is more so as the media in each county has its own national characteristic,” she said.

Ms. Swaraj highlighted the contributions made by ancient scholars, like Xuanzang of China and India’s Kumarajiva, in improving ties.

“It is important for us to revive the Xuanzang spirit among Chinese scholars and journalists and Kumarajiva spirit among Indian scholars and journalists,” she said.

The Chinese Information Minister, for his part, called on Chinese and Indian media to bear in mind the “dominant direction” of bilateral relations characterised by friendly cooperation.

“In recent years, India-China relations have seen all-around development. Our mutual strategic trust has been enhanced. Our interests are increasingly interwoven. We have established exchange mechanisms such as strategic economic and financial dialogues. Our practical cooperation has expanded into more areas. All these are inseparable from the efforts of the media of our two countries,” said Mr. Jiang.