CPAFFC Delegation Visits India

A CPAFFC delegation headed by Wang Wenyuan, former vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese Peo- ple’s Political Consultative Conference and adviser to the CPAFFC, paid a goodwill visit to India from December 19 to 28, 2007 at the invitation of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR). Also on the delegation were CPAFFC President Chen Haosu and Vice President Feng Zuoku. It was the highest-level delegation the CPAFFC has sent to India over the last decade.

During its stay in India, the delegation had a working meeting with Dr. Karan Singh, president of the ICCR, met with leading members of friendship-with-China organizations, and called on Mr. Nitish Kumar, chief minister of Bihar State, Dr. Ravindra Panth, president of Nalanda University, and other public figures and friendly personages.

Unofficial Contact Promoted

The extensive contact the delegation conducted with people of various circles in India enhanced mutual understanding, expanded the channels for exchange and laid a good foundation for the CPAFFC in its work of friendship with India in the future.

At his meetings with the Indian side, leader of the delegation Wang Wenyuan expressed his satisfaction with the present Sino-Indian relations. He stressed, both China and India are big Asian countries and their economies are growing rapidly. The development of relations between them has great significance to peace and stability in the world. The Chinese people are willing to deepen understanding and enhance friendly sentiments with the Indian people in order to create a better future.

CPAFFC President Chen Haosu said, as a major organization engaged in nongovernmental diplomacy in China, the CPAFFC would like to strengthen cooperation with all friendship organizations in India and add new contents to the strategic partnership of cooperation between China and India.

At the meeting with the ICCR, the two sides expressed their expectations of the coming visit to China by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. They hoped the two sides would take this opportunity to push the Sino-Indian relations to a new stage. During Prime Minister Singh’s visit to China, the premiers of the two governments would attend the ceremonies of the signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation between the CPAFFC and the ICCR and the founding of the China-India Joint Medical Mission. The two sides unanimously agreed that the fact that the premiers of the two governments would be present at the activity held by nongovernmental organizations showed the importance the two governments attached to people-to-people friendship, and that they would do their best to ensure the success of such activities.

The delegation also held informal discussions with representatives of the India-China Society, the India-China Friendship Association and the Indian Association of Friendships with Foreign Countries respectively and reached consensus on how to strengthen cooperation between them. The two sides held, China and India, both countries of ancient civilization in Asia, have had close contact in traditional culture since ancient times. It is of great importance for the two countries to increase exchange and explore new ways together in traditional areas in the new period. The two sides exchanged views on the concrete cooperation programmes.

Promoting Mutually Beneficial Cooperation Between Local Governments

Up till now, there are not any friendship cities between China and India. When calling on the chief minister of Bihar State, the delegation learned that Bihar would like to carry out exchanges with Chinese local government. It gave a brief account of China’s work for establishing friendship-city relations with other countries and pointed out that local governments should first find appropriate areas to start their contact. Bihar, a state rich in Buddhist culture, has two of the four famous Buddhist sacred sites in India, similar to Henan Province of China. The two provinces have many things in common while being also complementary in some aspects. The delegation briefed the chief minister on the general situation of Henan, who showed great interest in establishing friendship-city relations with the Chinese province.