Chinese Premier Li Keqiang terms his India visit as 'successful'

BEIJING: Buoyed by the positive vibes from his India trip, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has termed the visit as "successful", saying he "felt at home" during talks with his counterpart Manmohan Singh, the state media said today.


"A successful start is halfway to final success," state-run China Daily quoted him as saying about the first leg of his nine-day foreign to India, Pakistan, Switzerland and Germany.

Li, 57, is due to visit Pakistan tomorrow. Terming his talks with Prime Minister Singh as "deep, friendly and frank", Li said, "It made me feel like I was at home. I really appreciate his (Singh's) arrangements," the paper quoted Li as saying about his maiden official visit, 27 years after he toured the country as a youth leader.

"The Indian officials confided to their Chinese counterparts that they are fascinated by Li's sincerity, pragmatism and humour," it said.

His India tour, the first he undertook after becoming Premier in March, was regarded as the most challenging specially due to the border row, the commentary said.

"Despite China and India's arguments about territory issues and trade imbalances, Premier Li Keqiang's stop in India during his first overseas trip since he took the office has undoubtedly sent a positive and friendly signal," a commentary in the state-run China Daily here said.

"In response, Li was warmly accepted by his Indian counterpart as well as the Indian people. His visit has been prominent in the headlines of all the country's major newspapers," it said.

Also in its second editorial on Li's visit in as many days, the paper said his visit will create a new chapter in Sino-India relations.

"That Li chose New Delhi as the first leg of his first overseas trip as China's head of government is a strong signal to the outside world that Beijing attaches great importance to its interaction with India," it said.

"The two largest emerging economies and the two biggest, and largely untapped, markets, have everything to gain if they continue to enhance mutual trust as well as deepen pragmatic cooperation," it said.