Press Release - Ambassador's meeting with Mr. Ge Honglin, Mayor of Chengdu
03/03/2014

1. Ambassador Ashok K Kantha met with His Excellency, Mr. Ge Honglin, Mayor of Chengdu in Beijing today. At the outset, Ambassador expressed sincere condolences for the loss of precious human lives on account of the terrorist attack in Kunming on 1 March 2014. India has been a victim of terrorism, understands the pain and suffering of the Chinese people and expresses solidarity with the Government and people of China.

2. During the meeting, Ambassador Kantha recalled the signing of the agreement on sister-city relations between Bengaluru and Chengdu during the visit of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to China in October 2013. He said that this represented a milestone in the cooperative relations between the two cities and also provided encouragement for further collaboration. Ambassador stressed the need for promoting trade and economic cooperation between India and China. In this regard, he welcomed enhanced investment by Chengdu-based Chinese companies in India.

3. Mayor Ge Honglin recalled his long association with India in general and Bengaluru in particular. He called for enhanced trade and business cooperation, cultural and tourism exchanges, people-to-people contacts and educational linkages between Chengdu and India.

4. Both sides were of the view that the India-China Year of Friendly Exchanges 2014 provides another opportunity for strengthening linkages and expanding interaction between the two sides. In this regard, they agreed to work together to ensure the success of the activities related to the “Glimpses of India” Festival in Chengdu in the second quarter of the year.

5. Mayor Ge Honglin and Ambassador Ashok K Kantha agreed to take forward their useful discussion during the latter’s visit to visit Chengdu.

Beijing
3 March 2014