Sushma sets stage for Modi's China visit in May

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to China on May 26. The announcement was made by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who is on a three-day official trip to the neighbour country. 

The external affairs minister, who is on her first visit to China, after assuming charge, said the PM would undertake the visit before the Modi government completed one year in office.

Swaraj said Prime Minister Modi and President Xi Jinping were leaders with strong “will power” and both could think out of the box and could find a solution to the border dispute during Prime Minister Modi’s “outcome-driven visit”, she said.

Both sides agreed that the resolution of the border dispute should not be left to future generations.

Xi's visit to India in September last year was overshadowed by the standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in the Chumar region in Ladakh which was finally resolved with the simultaneous withdrawal of troops after hectic rounds of talks.

Swaraj also announced that an alternate route for the Kailash Mansarovar yatra, through the Nathula pass in Sikkim, will be opened in June.

“Another recent development worth noting is the establishment of our first sister-province ties between Gujarat and Guangdong. But what is of special resonance in my country is the understanding to open an additional route through Nathula for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra.”

Image: Prime Minister Narendra Modi with China's Xi Jinping and his wife during their visit to Gujarat in September last year.