President Pranab Mukherjee to visit China in May

NEW DELHI: President Pranab Mukherjee will visit China in May in what would signal continuing high-level engagement with Beijing after meeting between two Foreign Ministers and trips by Defence Minister and NSA amid Delhi's growing ties with USA that would get further momentum with the PM's trip to USA in June.

In what would be viewed as a balancing act in the backdrop of growing bonhomie with Washington Mukherjee will be in Beijing in May, highly-placed sources informed ET. This will be reciprocate President Xi Jinping's trip to India in September 2014.

The issue was discussed when Doval met Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at the Zhongnanhai central leadership compound in Beijing on Thursday. President Xi Jinping visits India later this year for the BRICS Summit on Oct 15-16 and before that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in China for the G-20 Summit in Hangzhou on September 4-5.

There are reports that the President might travel to a Southeast Asian country during the May trip but there is no confirmation to that.

Counter-terrorism including China's veto at UN to block India's bid at 1267 Sanctions Committee to ban JeM chief Masood Azhar, China Pakistan Economic Corridor through PoK figured during Doval's trip for the 19th round of Special Representative talks in Beijing on Wednesday.

Meanwhile ahead of his trip to China, the President will be on a trip to the Pacific region from April 28 -- Papua New Guinea and New Zealand -- a region where India has stepped up its engagement in last couple of years by holding two summits with Pacific Island states and expanding strategic partnership with Australia.