India and China will jointly hold 70 celebratory activities to mark the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties as agreed to during last month’s informal summit meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping.
The activities, which include parliamentary exchanges, will demonstrate the historic connect between the two civilisations as well as their growing bilateral relationship over the years, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement on Friday.
They will further deepen people-to-people exchanges between the two countries at all levels, including between their respective legislatures, businesses, academics, cultural and youth organisations as well as the defence forces, the MEA said.
The two sides will also engage in cooperative projects in studying ancient maritime links between India and China through the establishment of sister-state relations between Tamil Nadu and Fujian Province, it said.
They will explore the possibility of establishing an academy to study links between the southern Indian States and the Chinese province, conduct research on maritime links between India and China and hold a conference on a ship voyage that will trace the historic connect between the two civilisations.
These activities will be organised during 2020-2021, the MEA said.
The Chinese side will hold a China-India Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum in India as well as the 2nd China-India Drug Regulation Meeting.
The Indian side will also organise a special event on pharmaceuticals in China as part of the activities.
Mr. Modi and Mr. Xi met for their second informal summit at Mamallapuram, a coastal town near Chennai, on October 11-12 and discussed a range of bilateral issues. They also vowed to jointly combat terrorism and radicalisation and expand bilateral trade and investment.
