The Chinese President Xi Jinping’s India visit starts from Ahmedabad is surprising and interesting. It shows the importance China has attached to Gujarat. After visiting Gujarat, Xi will be moving to India’s capital Delhi. Incidentally the visit is scheduled on 17th September, the birthday of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In May 2014, Chinese premier Li-Kequiong called up Modi to congratulate him on his grand election victory, which paved the way for stronger ties between the two countries. India has an ancient trade history and most countries rushed to India for expanding their trade. Great scholars visited India and one of them was ‘Hiuen Tsang’ a Chinese scholar, who came in 641 AD. According to records, the Chinese traveller visited Vadnagar, the birthplace of Modi.
An official has visited Vadnagar to explore the possibilities of a meeting between Modi and Xi at this historical site, but ultimately Ahmedabad was chosen for security and easy approach. Xi will stay for of 6 to 7 hours on 17th September and has a tight schedule. There will be a business conference, some other discussions and a visit to Mahatma Gandhi’s Satyagrah Ashram. He will visit Sabarmati river front to have meeting with Modi and dinner.
What is important for India is how far Chinese Government is interested in the core development of the country. As per the estimate, China will commit investment of over $100 billion, which is thrice the amount Japan has committed to invest during the visit of the Prime Minister Modi to Japan. As for India, infrastructure development is very important as it would create employment opportunity to India’s vast unemployed youths. The employment of India’s youth is essential for the wellness of India’s vast population. The world is moving fast and everyone talks about progress but what about human progress. The investment by Japan and China augurs well and India’s future looks bright. But India should adhere to Modi’s call to “Make in India” a reality.