Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in India

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Ahmedabad on Wednesday to a grand welcome. He is India on a three-day visit which will focus on significantly ramping up trade and investment, besides addressing the contentious border issue that has seen occasional flare ups between the two Asian giants.

At the Ahmedabad airport, Xi was welcomed by Gujarat Governor OP Kohli and CM Anandiben Patel.

India expects that the visit will address the "interests and concerns" of both the countries and that "all substantive" issues having bearing on the ties including the boundary dispute will be discussed. 

Keen to boost its trade ties with India, the Chinese side has already indicated that it will pledge to invest billions of dollars in India's railway, manufacturing and infrastructure projects during the Xi's visit, the third by any Chinese President to India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who arrived in Ahmedabad on Tuesday to welcome Xi, said India seeks greater engagement with China but at the same time sought progress on "issues of concern" saying their resolution will transform the atmosphere in the relations.

"I am looking forward to deepening our engagement across the full spectrum of our bilateral relations, but also seeking progress on issues of concern, because resolution of these issues will transform the atmosphere in our relations and allow us to realise the full potential of our relations," he said.

Modi will welcome Xi, who is accompanied by a high-level delegation including two senior members of Polit Bureau and the Chinese Commerce Minister, at his hotel on Wednesday, which will also be the prime minister's 64th birthday. 

Xi will visit Mahatma Gandhi's Sabarmati Ashram and will spend some time along with Modi who will host a private dinner for the Chinese President at the Sabarmati riverfront.

The leaders will witness signing of pacts before heading to the Ashram.

Xi will leave for Delhi after dinner. 

Modi and Xi will hold extensive talks on Thursday in Delhi following which they are expected to sign a number of pacts which will provide for Chinese investments in a range of areas including railways and industrial parks.

Largely described as a visit to focus on economic and trade issues, Xi is expected to announce large scale Chinese investments in railways, manufacturing as well as infrastructure rivalling Japan's $35

billion commitment made during Modi's recent visit to Tokyo. 

Chinese officials say that China would be committing anywhere between $100 billion to $300 billion in the modernisation of Indian railways, establishing of industrial parks as well as investment in mega infrastructure projects.

China's foreign exchange reserves, the largest in the world, reached a record $3.95 trillion in March and it plans to invest around USD 500 billion overseas in the next five years, a large share of which is expected to find India's way.

Xi will be accompanied by his wife Peng Liyuan, State Councillor Yang Jiechi, who was earlier foreign minister, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng besides a number of businessmen and other leaders. 

On Monday, the government had said it expects that the visit will address the "interests and concerns" of the two countries and that "all substantive" issues having bearing on the ties including the boundary dispute will be discussed.

60-year-old Xi, who took over as the head of the ruling Communist Party in 2012 and President and military chief in March last year, had been sending clear signals of boosting bilateral relations with India.

Modi said the relationship between the two countries goes beyond "plain arithmetic" and he was confident that the neighbours can "script history" by enhancing cooperation. 

Reflecting the importance India attaches to the visit, Modi said India and China have a "unique chemistry" that can make for a defining moment and create a bright future for the entire mankind.

He summarised the possibilities of the bilateral ties moving ahead as 'inch' meaning India and China towards 'Miles' -- Millennium of Exceptional Synergy -- and said every inch both cover can "rewrite history" of humanity and every mile crossed will go a long way in making the planet a better place.

Xi's visit will be the third by any Chinese president to India. President Hu Jintao had visited India in 2006 and Jiang Zemin had come here in 1996.

Image: Chinese President Xi Jinping and First Lady Peng Liyuan arrive at Ahmedabad airport.