IANS
Beijing, May 14
After being critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi days ahead of his three-day visit to China, the Chinese media was fullsoe in his praise on Thursday as he landed in Xi'an.In an commentary, state-run news agency Xinhua pointed out how Modi made his China debut as Indian prime minister in the city of Xi'an just like Chinese President Xi Jinping chose not Delhi but the western Indian city of Ahmedabad as the first stop of his official trip to India last year.
The two cities are also the hometowns of the two leaders, the article noted.
“Choosing these stops lends not only a personal touch to the relationship between the two leaders, it also reflects their shared desire to push forward relations between the two Asian neighbours,” the article, headlined “Growing rapport between Chinese, Indian leaders marks new era of ties”, stated.
It also said that Modi opening a opened an official account on China's microblog Sina Weibo days before his visit drew applause from Chinese bloggers.
“The account attracted over 20,000 followers hours after Modi posted his first tweet,” it stated.
“The unusually warm response towards Modi's effort to communicate with common Chinese citizens is also proof that many Chinese are upbeat about the future development of bilateral ties between China and India following several high-level visits.”
In a separate opinion piece headlined “Trust between two oriental giants”, Xinhua stated that it is not quite often that top Chinese leaders travel outside Beijing to meet foreign guests.
“The exchange of visits by the leaders from the world's two largest emerging economies soon after both took office has signaled warming relations between the two oriental giants,” it stated.
According to the article, despite a long history of cultural exchange between the two ancient civilizations, “Sino-Indian ties have long been regarded as sometimes complicated due to their competitive yet cooperative relationship”.
For the past few decades, there has been mistrust between China and India, resulting in tense relations and even military confrontation over border issues in 1962.
“With growing economic integration and people-to-people contact in recent years, the two Asian economies have ushered in a new phase and the Sino-Indian ties could be among the most important bilateral relationships, requiring the two powers to abandon the outdated zero-sum mindset and build a more constructive relationship,” it stated.
“It is clear that if the 'Chinese Dragon' and the 'Indian Elephant' co-exist harmoniously and realise peaceful, cooperative development, it will bring benefit to not only their combined 2.5 billion people, but also those living beyond their borders. Otherwise, both might slow down their growth if they fall into a spiral of bilateral rivalry.”
Meanwhile, a paper that had earlier carried a critical commentary on India and had charged Modi "with playing little tricks over border disputes and security issues", on Thursday took a conciliatory stand to say that the two countries can gain much if they pursue a position complementary towards each other, shedding the distrust they share mutually.
"Anyone with some geopolitical knowledge understands what revolutionary changes would happen to the political and economic landscape in Asia if China and India can join hands to forge ahead," the Global Times said in an article titled "China and India Can Complement Each Other".
"But the people are also aware that there seems always to be a lack of mutual trust between the dragon and the elephant," said the Global Times, which is an English language newspaper of China's state-patronised People's Daily.
The Global Times article conceded that there were, indeed, some unsustainable factors in the trade structures of China and India, like in the case of textiles where the two countries enjoy the status of top two global exporters.
"To tackle them, the two countries must devise and expand complementarity of their industries," it said, while also spelling out some examples of how the two sides can provide more favourable conditions for each other's competitive industries.
Yet another important paper said it was now "time for deeper China-India cooperation".
There is huge potential for deepening bilateral cooperation in trade and economic fields, especially in the manufacturing sector, wrote Xu Changwen in an opinion piece in the state-run China Daily. The Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiatives by the Chinese president too are apt for cooperation with India, especially after it adopted an "eastward-looking" strategy, it said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping today visited the iconic Giant Wild Goose Pagoda built in 652 AD in recognition of monk Hiuen Tsang's 17-year-long journey to India and his efforts to popularise Buddhism in China.
Modi and Xi visited the Pagoda after holding wide-ranging bilateral talks here.
Prime Minister Modi also gifted a Bodhi sapling to the temple. In re turn, the Abbot of the monastery gifted a figurine of Hiuen Tsang, also known as Xuan Zang, to Modi.
Xi and Modi also posed for the photographers while shaking hands in front of the monument.
The Giant Wild Goose Pagoda is a Buddhist pagoda located in southern Xi'an. It was built in 652 AD, during the Tang dynasty and originally had five storeys.
The structure was rebuilt in 704 AD during the reign of empress Wu Zetian and its exterior brick facade was renovated during the reign of emperor Gaozang of Tang (649-683).
The monument, which currently stands at a height of 64 metres, was built in recognition of monk Hiuen Tsang's 17-year-long journey to India and his efforts to popularise Buddhism in China.
Hiuen Tsang undertook the journey to India through the ancient Silk Road and returned home after the 17-year sojourn with precious Buddhist scriptures.
One of the Pagoda's many functions was to hold sutra and figurines of the Buddha that were brought to China from India by Hiuen Tsang.
An Indian woman who came to Beijing to trace her 81-year-old step-sister has had an emotional reunion today on the sidelines of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first visit to China.
Jennifer An, 62, daughter of Chinese marine engineer An Chi Pong who lived in Chennai for more than 40 years, finally met her step-sister An Roesai here nearly 75 years after their father left Roesai in China and migrated to India, where he later died.
The tearful reunion was arranged at an Indian restaurant here, four days after PTI highlighted Jennifer's arduous journey to Beijing to locate her step-sister.
State-run China Radio International (Tamil service) arranged the reunion after locating Roesai, who stays with her extended family, through the Chinese social media. Jennifer's husband, V R S Balaji, had sought Modi's help through a letter, saying they were motivated by his efforts to reunite a Nepalese boy with his parents during his visit to Nepal last year.
The Prime Minister today arrived in the ancient Chinese city of Xi'an. He would be in China on a three-day visit.
However, the reunion happened without any official intervention.
The sisters hugged and cried when they met at the restaurant.
They communicated with the help of a translator. But the reunion turned out to be an anticlimax as some of the accounts Pong had circulated in India stating that his Chinese wife and six children were killed in Chinese city Nanjing during WW-II were contradicted by Roesai.
Roesai said their father left her with his step-mother when she was only five and never returned.
Contrary to the earlier version that Pong's entire Chinese family was killed in the war and only Roesai survived because she lived in a village with her grandmother, Roesai said her father divorced her mother and that she was their only child.
Pong, who studied at the Oxford University in early 1940s, first settled in Mumbai in 1945 and later moved to Chennai and married Irene Perera, with whom he had four children, including Jennifer. Pong died in 1982 at the age of 80 years.
Roesai said she had a torrid time trying to live through the difficult phases of her life. She survived with the largesses given to her by her relatives and suffered until she married.
She said initially she did not want to meet Jennifer but changed her mind later.
The two sisters plans to spend the next few days together and Jennifer invited An and her family to visit her father's Indian home in Chennai.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today expressed hope that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be able to resolve the issue of stapled visa with Chinese authorities during his ongoing visit to the neighbouring nation.
"I hope @PMOIndia is able to resolve the 'stapled visa' issue so that I can also visit the Terracotta Army and Great Wall of China," Omar wrote on micro-blogging site Twitter.
Omar was referring the stapled visa issued by China for residents of Jammu and Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh.
His comment came soon after Modi visited the Terracota Army heritage site in China.
The National Conference working president also commented on a photograph of Modi waving at the crowd during his China visit.
