Indian envoy meets top CPC official ahead of Def Min's visit to China

Beijing: Indian Ambassador to China Gautam Bambawale on Tuesday held talks with a top official of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) ahead of high-level visits including that of Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to Beijing next month.

Bambawale met with Guo Yezhou, the Vice-Minister of International Department of CPC, the Indian Embassy here said. CPC's international department is placed higher than the Foreign Ministry in China's state hierarchy. This is the second meeting between the two since January.

"They shared ideas for further strengthening bilateral exchanges and visits, following up on their first meeting," a brief press note from the Indian Embassy here said today.

This is also the first meeting between the Indian and the Chinese side after Chinese parliament, the National People's Congress, in a historic move on March 11 abolished the two-term limit for President Xi Jinping, paving the way for him to continue to be in power beyond 2023 and perhaps for life.

The move was expected to have huge impact on both China's internal and external relations, especially with neighbours like India in the backdrop of last year's 73-day long Dokalam standoff. Bambawale's meeting with Guo came in the backdrop of Sitharaman's announcement that she would visit China next month, though she gave no details. Officials on both sides say that her visit would send a strong signal to the international community about the positive traction of the Sino-Indian ties.