Food and music complement India-China friendship at Beijing

Rolling out the red carpet for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Chinese leadership conveyed a message of friendship, serving him some exotic Chinese dishes mixed with Bollywood and Western music.

As the two countries signed nine agreements, including one on strengthening the cooperation on the trans-border rivers, the Chinese military band conducted by Zhang Zhirong played Flowing River and a few old Bollywood numbers as background music for the well-laid-out banquet hosted by Premier Li Keqiang in honour of Singh.

Take a look at what songs were played at the luncheon to strike a chord with music loving Indians. 

Click NEXT to listen to some timeless classics… 

The song 'Mera Naam Chin Chin Chu' from the 1958 film Howrah Bridge was picturised on Helen who plays Chin Chin Chu, a flirtatious dancer from Shanghai.

Sung by Geeta Dutt, written by Qamar Jalalabadi and composed by OP Nayyar, the song became very popular.

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The background music played 'Red Dates for Family' topping it with 'Our Life Full of Sunshine'.

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'Roja', a Tamil film directed by Mani Ratnam, was dubbed in Hindi, Marathi, Malayalam and Telugu. It also saw the debut of music composer A R Rahman.

The song Roja Janeman, which was played at the banquet, was sung by Hariharan and Sujatha Mohan. The Hindi lyrics were written by P K Mishra.

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In many ways Singh's visit, dominated by strategic issues like border differences, had a striking informality.       

Besides meetings, it was marked by back-to-back banquets hosted by both Li and President Xi Jinping.

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Baar Baar Dekho from the 1962 film ‘ChinaTown’ by Mohammed Rafi went onto to become a classic. The movie starred starring Shammi Kapoor in a double role. 

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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is also being hosted by former Premier Wen Jiabao. It is very rare to see a retired Chinese leader resurfacing to host a visiting dignitary.

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The playful song Gore Gore O Banke Chore from the 1950 film Samadhi was sung by Lata Mangeshkar and Amirbai Karnataki.     

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The two leaders who met numerous times in their nearly decade long tenures want to meet again for the old times sake, officials said.

Li, 57, took Singh for a walk at the famous Forbidden City giving him a guided tour, another informal gesture rarely displayed by the Chinese leaders. 

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