Indian President Arrives for China Visit

President Kocheril Raman Narayanan

Indian President Kocheril Raman Narayanan arrived Sunday evening in Beijing on a seven-day state visit to China, at the invitation of Chinese President Jiang Zemin.

During the visit, the first ever to China since Narayanan assumed the presidency in 1997, leaders of the two countries are expected to exchange views on China-India relations and regional and international issues of mutual interest.

In addition to Beijing, the Indian president and his entourage will also travel to the port city of Dalian in northeast China and Kunming, capital city of southwest China's Yunnan province.

Before President Narayanan's departure from New Delhi, he said in an interview that India-China friendship is a historical necessity for the people of the two countries as well as for the world.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said earlier this week that the relations between China and India are improving, and China pays great attention to developing good-neighborly cooperative relations with India.

"We hope that Sino-Indian relations can grow along a healthy track through the visit," she said.