Beijing: Chinese President Hu Jintao will visit India later this year to give further impetus to Sino-India ties, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee was informed by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Tuesday.
Wen told Chatterjee that Hu would be visiting India this year as part of the high-level visits that have boosted Sino-India relations.
Wen, who met Chatterjee and his delegation at the picturesque Zhongnanhai leadership compound, warmly welcomed the Speaker on his fifth visit to China and described him as a ‘friend of Chinese people.’
The Chinese Premier also told Chatterjee that during his current visit, he has ‘reaped a bumper harvest’, indicating that the two sides were able to make positive progress in enhancing mutual trust and understanding.
Official sources said the maiden visit by Hu, also General Secretary of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), would be a significant event since a Chinese Head of State would be travelling to India after nearly a decade.
The last visit by a Chinese President to India was in 1996 when the former Head of State Jiang Zemin toured the country.
Chatterjee, who is leading an all-party MPs' delegation to China, has also invited his Chinese counterpart, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), Wu Bangguo.
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