On Thursday, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi arrived in China to meet and exchange views on bilateral issues with the newly elected Communist Party leadership in the country. Indian Ambassador to China, Nirupama Rao, and other senior officials, including from the CPC, received Sonia at the Beijing International Airport amid tight security.

Sonia is accompanied by a high-level Party delegation comprising senior Congress leader, Karan Singh, and ministers of state, Anand Sharma, and Prithviraj Chavan and Rahul Gandhi on the 5-day visit to enhance the bilateral relation between both the neighboring countries.

Sonia is expected to meet with Chinese President and CPC General Secretary Hu Jintao, Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao, Politburo member, Liu Qi, and Huang Hua on Friday. Huang Hua had played key role in taking initiatives for bilateral ties in the initial stages of Sino-Indian relations.

Sonia will be the first leader of a foreign country to meet with Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao after their re-election to the Politburo Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee. According to the report, Sonia is likely to visit Xian, one of China’s ancient city and Shanghai, the commercial hub in the country.

According to some political experts, the nuclear issue might not figure in Sonia’s talks with the top Chinese leaders because officially China views the Indo-US nuclear deal as a bilateral issue between India and the United States. China is likely to keep itself away from India’s internal affairs by ignoring the conflicts in India’s domestic politics over nuke deal with the US.

Later, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that China views UPA chairperson’s visit with great importance. Her visit to China will play an important role to boost Sino-Indian relations to a new peak by promoting mutual understanding and cooperation.

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