As Congress scion Rahul Gandhi set foot in Beijing on Thursday on his first visit to China, it was a memorable moment for the young Indian leader. His late father Rajiv Gandhi was instrumental in reviving Sino-Indian ties in 1988 with a ground-breaking visit.
Rahul, now emerging as a future leader of the Congress Party, was 18 years old when Rajiv and Sonia embarked on their historic visit to China. They met with the visionary Chinese leader, Deng Xiaoping and normalised Sino-Indian relations.
The visit of then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi to China in December 1988 was a landmark event in India-China relations, Chinese sources said. It marked the resumption of political dialogue at the highest level after an interregnum of 28 years.
During the visit, both sides agreed to develop and expand bilateral relations in every field. It was also agreed to establish a Joint Working Group on the boundary question to seek a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution.
The two sides also set up a Joint Economic Group on economic and commercial issues and paved the way for increased bilateral exchanges in science and technology, mining, audit, defence, personnel and culture. High-level exchanges provided the necessary impetus to the growth of long-term neighbourly relations, the sources said.
Now, Gandhi, president of the Congress Party and chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance, arrived in Beijing on Thursday at the invitation of Chinese President Hu Jintao, who was re-elected on Monday as General Secretary of the ruling Communist Party of China.
The visit will give Rahul an opportunity to personally witness China's great leap forward after opening up its economy 29 years ago and subsequent reforms. It will also give the Chinese leadership an opportunity to size up the young Indian leader, touted as the next generation leader of the Congress.
The China trip is also expected to give Rahul, who is now being groomed to assume higher responsibilities, an international profile. He had earlier accompanied Gandhi during her visit to the United States, days after he was appointed the All India Congress Committee general secretary.
Senior party leader Karan Singh, AICC general secretary Prithviraj Chavan and Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma are also in the high-level delegation accompanying the Congress president.
During her visit, Sonia is expected to dwell on the overall India-China relations with the Chinese leadership and not focus on specific and particularly ticklish issues like the border disputes.
"She is likely to discuss economic and cultural ties as also the need for closer contacts between the ruling parties of the two countries," the sources said.