A delegation of senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders headed by party president Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday left on a goodwill visit to China with the hope that it would help the two sides understand each other's core concerns and respect the other point of view.
This will be the first time that a BJP president will be visiting China in an official delegation. The main Opposition party is hoping to build a new party-to-party relationship.
Mr. Gadkari, who is also accompanied by his wife Kanchan Gadkari, said he was looking forward to “meaningful talks with the Chinese leaders on a wide range of issues of mutual concern.” He hoped the visit would strengthen bilateral cooperation in a number of fields and boost people-to-people contact between the two countries. The visit was important “for better appreciation of each other's points of view and for developing respect for each other's core concerns,” he said.
He recalled that the former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee's China visit in 2003 led to the setting up of a mechanism to resolve the boundary dispute.
During its five-day visit, the delegation will go to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. A visit to Yanqing county is scheduled, where the team will see one of the largest solar power plants in China, a recycling project in the rural area and a new energy research institute.
The delegation will also study party building at the grassroots by the Communist Party of China.
The delegation includes two general secretaries Thawarchand Gehlot and Vijay Goel, joint organising secretary Saudan Singh, secretaries Arti Mehra and Laxman Kova, Mr. Gadkari's political adviser Vinay Sahasrabuddhe and convener of the party's foreign affairs cell Vijay Jolly.
