China, US to make first contact with Modi govt this weekend

In an important weekend for foreign relations, India will see visits by the Chinese foreign minister and the US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia. China’s foreign minister Wang Yi is expected to arrive in New Delhi on Sunday on a two day visit, marking the country’s first trip to India following Narendra Modi’s victory in the Lok Sabha elections. [caption id=“attachment_1560011” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] PTI image[/caption] Wang will lead a seven-member delegation and will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday. The Chinese delegation will also meet External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj during their visit, CNN-IBN reported. Topics up for discussion during Mr Wang’s visit include issues of trade and regional security. Apart from China, the US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Nisha Desai Biswal is also visiting India on Saturday. Biswal is scheduled to hold meetings in New Delhi over the next several days establishing the first high level contact between the Obama Administration and the Modi Government after the latter came back to power on May 26. With just over 10 days in office, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a long list of foreign leaders who have expressed a desire to meet him, said Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin on Friday. “The inbox of the Prime Minister is pretty crowded. Multilateral visits from BRICS, UNGA, E Asia, ASEAN, SAARC, G20 are on the agenda,” he said.