On May 20, 2013, Premier Li Keqiang of the State Council met with Sonia Gandhi, President of the Indian National Congress (INC) party in New Delhi.
Li Keqiang conveyed the cordial greetings from Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Chinese President, to Sonia Gandhi. Li Keqiang said that with the care and support of the older generations of statesmen and people of wisdom from the two countries, China-India relationship is moving on the fast track for comprehensive development. The two sides bear in mind the overall situation, making great effort to push forward the friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation, bringing practical benefits to the two countries and their peoples and boosting regional and world peace and prosperity. In the morning of the day, I held talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, reaching broad consensus on further developing bilateral relations. The both sides signed a series of cooperative documents. It will surely be a strong promotion for the development of China-India strategic cooperative partnership and will send the outside world a positive message of solidarity and cooperation between China and India for common development.
Li Keqiang noted that the Indian government, led by the Congress party, established diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China in 1950s, opening a new chapter in bilateral relations. The Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, jointly advocated by China and India, have remained for six decades as an important principle for guiding state-to-state exchanges and cooperation. The Chinese side appreciates the Congress party for consistently adhering to a friendly policy towards China, and is willing to strengthen friendly exchanges and cooperation with the party, to inject new impetus into the development of China-India relations.
Sonia Gandhi asked Li Keqiang to convey her greetings to President Xi Jinping, and on behalf of the Congress party, thanked Li Keqiang for choosing India as the first stop of his first visit abroad as the Chinese Premier. She spoke highly of the great significance of the visit to the India-China relations and congratulate the visit to achieve positive results. Sonia Gandhi noted that as two ancient civilizations, the common development and prosperity of the two nations will help build a more balanced world. The Congress party is willing to continue its efforts for strengthening the friendly relations between India and China, and especially hopes to further deepen the exchanges between the two peoples, in particular the youth, so as to continuously consolidate the social foundation of the bilateral amity.