| Date: |
15-01-2015 |
| Subject: |
Sushma Swaraj to travel to Beijing for bilateral talks in February |
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NEW DELHI: Foreign minister SushmaSwaraj will travel to Beijing in the first week of February for what will be the first visit by any cabinet minister of the NDA government led by PM NarendraModi to China.
Swaraj will be in Beijing for a bilateral meet with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. Among other things, the 2 leaders are expected to discuss the timing of a likely visit by Modi to China later this year. An official here said all major bilateral issues would be discussed during her visit with the minister also likely to call on President Xi Jinping.
Swaraj's maiden visit to China was scheduled to take place? in August last for Russia-India-China (RIC) trilateral. The minister though cancelled the visit which was to take place just ahead of Modi's departure to Japan for his bilateral with Japanese PM Shinzo Abe.
Swaraj had then spoken to Wang and told him that she would not be visiting China as scheduling issues had precluded the RIC meet from taking place. Sources said she had told Wang then that she was looking forward to an early ?visit to Beijing.
Swaraj had last month expressed concern over Beijing's nuclear cooperation with Pakistan which is looking to import nuclear reactors from? China. She said the Indian government had taken up the issue with China, aware as it was about the likely impact of such an agreement on global non proliferation norms.
Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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