Shashi Tharoor to meet Chinese President and Premier

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Former Union minister Shashi Tharoor, MP, will be meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang in connection with the second 'Understanding China' conference being held in Beijing from November 1-4.

Tharoor will be joining the two-day discussion in his capacity as a member of 21st Century Council, one of the patrons of the conference and the Chairman of External Affairs Committee of Indian Parliament, a press release here said.

The conference under the patronage of 21st Century Council, China Institute for Innovation and Development Strategy ( CIIDS), Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs ( CPIFA) and Beijing Municipal People's Government, is aimed towards fostering dialogue and understanding of China's politics and culture.

Members of 21st Century Council, including eminent political and industry leaders from across the globe like former British premier Gordon Brown, former Prime Minister of Italy Mario Monti, renowned political scientist Francis Fukuyama, economist Larry Summers, former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo, former President of Brazil F H Cardoso, Google's Eric Schmidt, Reid Hoffman from LinkedIn, Evan Spiegal of Snapchat would be attending the conference.