External affairs minister S.M. Krishna arrived in Beijing on Tuesday night on a three-day visit to participate in the 12th summit of the China-backed Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in which India is an observer.
Besides attending the summit on Wednesday, Mr Krishna is scheduled to meet Chinese vice-premier Li Keqiang to review the bilateral ties between the two countries.
Indian officials regard the meeting significant as Mr Li is tipped to take over as the Premier from incumbent Wen Jiabao, who is set to retire along with President Hu Jintao and other top leaders after a decade-long stint in power. While Mr Li was expected to be Premier, vice-president Xi Jinping is widely tipped to get selected for the President’s post in the 18th Communist Party of China Congress later this year. As the bilateral relations showed considerable improvement in the recent years, India looks to establish rapport with the new leaders. The SCO summit this year is expected to focus on the situation in Afghanistan in the aftermath of the departure of US led Nato troops in 2014.
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Defence, security are on antony, panetta agenda
Age Correspondents
New Delhi, June 5
Visiting US defence secretary Leon Panetta and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday discussed America’s desire to resume the mission for recovery of US military personnel who died in air crashes during World War II in the Northeast.
Meanwhile, the MoD, in a statement Tuesday, said, “Ongoing defence cooperation and the regional security situation will figure prominently during the discussion that US defence secretary Leon Panetta will have with defence minister A.K. Antony here on Wednesday.” It added, “Mr Panetta will lay a wreath at Amar Jawan Jyoti and will be presented a tri-services guard of honour at South Block. Mr Antony will also host a dinner in honour of the visiting dignitary.”
Mr Panetta, who arrived in New Delhi on Tuesday, is also understood to have met national security adviser Shivshankar Menon.