Embassy of India
Beijing
*****

Text of Ambassador’s 2020 Republic Day Reception Speech

Vice-Foreign Minister LuoZhaohui,

Major General Zhang Hongbo,

My dear colleagues from the diplomatic corps,

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I welcome you all to the Embassy of India, Beijing’s reception on the occasion of 70 years of the Republic of India.

At the outset, I would like to wish all our Chinese friends a very happy and prosperous Lunar New Year. May the New Year of the Rat bring you and your families joy, peace and abundance.

Seventy years is an important milestone in a human life. In the life of a nation it is but a speck. Yet even in this time, we in India take justifiable pride in building the edifice of a strong and resilient nation. As the world’s 7th largest economy, we have contributed also to socio-economic development beyond our borders and added our voice together with that of many friends gathered here today, in support to reformed and more responsive governance by the international network of multilateral institutions.

And as was demonstrated by the simultaneous observance in June 2019 of the 5th International Day of Yoga in over 180 countries and 820 cities including 20 in China, we have also continued to share the ancient knowledge that helps unite mind body and soul to enable us all to deal better with everyday strife.

But 2020 is an important year not only because it marks 70 years of the Republic of India, but also the 70th Anniversary of Establishment of India-China Diplomatic Relations. It is worth recalling that India was one of the first non-socialist countries to recognize the PRC. This important anniversary is therefore an opportunity to review our journey and set new goals together.

Over the past one year, India and China as the two largest developing countries in the world have worked to advance our Closer Developmental Partnership.

In October 2019, Prime Minister Modi and President Xi Jinping held the Second Informal Summit in Chennai, which was highly successful and productive. It has provided new impetus for the growth and expansion of our relations across the political, military, economic, trade cultural and people-to-people domains. A broader and deeper relationship between us can enable India-China relations to serve as a factor of stability, in a complex and evolving world.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We are old civilizations with histories of exchange dating back several millennia. We are also young nation states with complementary interests in a variety of areas. Our task is therefore to take the 70th Anniversary as an opportunity to comprehensively re-energize our relations. The coming year will bring us many more opportunities for engagement and achievements in bilateral relations.

At Chennai, our leaders agreed that our two countries would organize 70 celebratory activities to suitably commemorate the 70th Anniversary of our diplomatic relations.

We look forward to working with our Chinese colleagues and many friends present here today to organize these 70 events, which are spread across multiple areas such as parliamentary exchanges, state-province relations, military exchanges, cultural and sporting events, academic and media-related events, and many more.

We will also be working towards studying and better understanding our traditional and historical links.

At the same time we will redouble our efforts to enhance trade and economic cooperation, and work towards enabling more Indian products and services to find opportunities in China, while welcoming more Chinese enterprises to invest and operate in India. We look forward to working closely and constructively with our Chinese colleagues in Beijing and across China, to achieve this ambitious agenda.

With these words, I would like to thank all guests present here today for their friendship and support to us. Please join me in raising a toast -

For the wellbeing and progress of the people of India and China;

For friendship among our two peoples; and

For the health and happiness of all our friends gathered here.

Cheers!

Thank you all. And once again, a very Happy New Year.

*****