External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj visits China Saturday Jan 31,2015

 

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj accompanied by Foreign Secretary, S. Jaishankar (left) being welcomed on her arrival at the Beijing International Airport on Saturday. Jan 31,2015

Significantly Ms. Swaraj routed her journey to the Chinese capital through Kunming — one of the starting points of the 21 st century Maritime Silk Road (MSR) — a pet project of Chinese President Xi Jinping. China has invited India to join the MSR, but New Delhi has so far, refrained from making a firm commitment. Starting from Kolkata, Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, is also the point of termination of the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) economic corridor — a part of the MSR, which the Indian side is negotiating with the Chinese. However, India has become a staunch supporter of the China-initiated, Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, which is also likely to be used for funding MSR projects.

The Sino-Indian border differences are unlikely to draw prime attention during the talks between Ms. Swaraj and her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.

Sushma Swaraj’s visit is also seen as preparation for Prime Minister Modi’s visit to China later this year