Chinese Media Lauds Modi, Sino-Indian Ties

BEIJING: After being critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi days ahead of his three-day visit to China, the Chinese media was fullsoe in his praise as he landed in Xi'an.

In an commentary, state-run news agency Xinhua pointed out how Modi made his China debut as Indian prime minister in the city of Xi'an just like Chinese President Xi Jinping chose not Delhi but the western Indian city of Ahmedabad as the first stop of his official trip to India last year.

The two cities are also the hometowns of the two leaders, the article noted.

“Choosing these stops lends not only a personal touch to the relationship between the two leaders, it also reflects their shared desire to push forward relations between the two Asian neighbours,” the article, headlined “Growing rapport between Chinese, Indian leaders marks new era of ties”, stated.

It also said that Modi opening a opened an official account on China's microblog Sina Weibo days before his visit drew applause from Chinese bloggers.

“The account attracted over 20,000 followers hours after Modi posted his first tweet,” it stated.

“The unusually warm response towards Modi's effort to communicate with common Chinese citizens is also proof that many Chinese are upbeat about the future development of bilateral ties between China and India following several high-level visits.”

In a separate opinion piece headlined “Trust between two oriental giants”, Xinhua stated that it is not quite often that top Chinese leaders travel outside Beijing to meet foreign guests.

“The exchange of visits by the leaders from the world's two largest emerging economies soon after both took office has signaled warming relations between the two oriental giants,” it stated.

According to the article, despite a long history of cultural exchange between the two ancient civilizations, “Sino-Indian ties have long been regarded as sometimes complicated due to their competitive yet cooperative relationship”.

For the past few decades, there has been mistrust between China and India, resulting in tense relations and even military confrontation over border issues in 1962.
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