The neighbours have set in motion steps to enhance cultural and people-to-people exchanges in 10 different sectors.
NEW DELHI: Taking forward the spirit of Wuhan Summit, India and China have set in motion steps to enhance cultural and people-to-people exchanges in 10 different sectors – movie, education, art, tourism, yoga, sports, academia, media, cultural and youth exchange – in order to improve relations between the neighbours.
As part of this move, the first meeting of newly constituted India-China High-Level Mechanism on Cultural and People-to-People Exchanges was held this week in the capital which was co-chaired by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and visiting State Councillor and Foreign Minister of China Wang Yi.
The decision to establish this special mechanism was taken during an informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jingping in Wuhan in April this year.
“The mechanism reflects the desire on both sides to build greater synergies in the people-to-people ties between the two countries through enhanced exchanges in areas such as tourism, art, films, media, culture, yoga, sports, academic and youth exchanges,” said MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar.
Kumar said, “What we also plan to do is that under this high-level mechanism, we will bring all the existing bilateral, cultural and people-to-people exchanges between India and China under one roof.”
During his official visit to India, Yi is scheduled to call on President Ram Nath Kovind. He is also expected to visit Aurangabad and Mumbai.
In his written message, Modi expressed happiness over talks between the two sides and hoped that the new mechanism will help further deepen cultural exchanges and engagement between people of the two countries. “Age-old links have been reinforced with increased contacts and exchanges between our peoples in contemporary times,” the Prime Minister said.
Earlier this month, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale held talks with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou and reviewed the progress made in the bilateral ties since the Wuhan Summit. In their informal summit in the Chinese city, Modi and Xi decided to issue ‘strategic guidance’ to their militaries to strengthen communications so that they can build trust and understanding.
Modi and Xi had met on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Argentina last month during which they concurred that there had been a perceptible improvement in bilateral ties after the Wuhan Summit and both sides are optimistic that 2019 would be even better year for India-China relations.