The ongoing visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Wuhan City adds another milestone to the long term bilateral relation, shared between India and China.
The meeting comes in the backdrop of the efforts made by both India and China to move past the tensions, which rose out of last year's Doklam standoff.
Starting from 1950, India became the first non-socialist bloc country to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, as reported in a press release by the Ministry of External Affairs.
Further, then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's visit in 1988 helped to thaw the Indo-China tensions following the 1962 conflict between the two countries.
In 1993, an Agreement on the Maintenance of Peace and Tranquility was signed between India and China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) during the visit of then Prime Minister Narasimha Rao, which reflected the growing stability and substance in the bilateral ties.
Further in 2003, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee visited China, during which the two sides had signed a Declaration on Principles for Relations and Comprehensive Cooperation and also mutually decided to appoint Special Representatives (SRs) to "to explore the framework of a boundary settlement from the political perspective".
In April 2005, former Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited India. The two sides established Strategic and Cooperative Partnership for Peace and Prosperity, while the signing of an agreement on Political Parameters and Guiding Principles.
During former Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to India in November 2006, the two sides issued a Joint Declaration containing a ten-pronged strategy to intensify cooperation.
Former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh visited China in January 2008. A joint document, titled "A Shared Vision for the 21st Century" was issued during the visit, the statement read.
During former Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to India in December 2010, the two sides jointly set a bilateral trade target of USD 100 billion for 2015.
According to the statement, over 60 percent of the agreements between the two Asian giants have been signed during the last decade.
Till date, both the sides have established 36 dialogue mechanisms covering diverse sectors.
In March 2012, then Chinese President Hu Jintao visited India for the BRICS Summit.
In terms of defence exchanges, the fifth round of the Annual Defence Dialogue concluded in Beijing on 14 January 2013.
Further in 2014, the present Chinese President Xi Jinping visited India. A total of 16 agreements were signed in various sectors- including commerce and trade, railways, space -cooperation, pharmaceuticals, audio-visual coproduction, culture, establishment of industrial parks, and sister-city arrangements.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the two countries to open an addtional route for Kailash Mansarovar Yatra in India through Nathu La pass in China.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had embarked on his maiden two-day visit to China in 2015.
Prime Minister Modi and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang held bilateral talks. The two leaders had then welcomed the move to initiate a State/Provincial Leaders' Forum to advance the bilateral relationship between the two nations.
This was part of record 24 bilateral agreements signed between the two neighbouring countries, amounting to USD 10 billion.
The duo kick-started this forum by attending its first meeting held in Beijing.
Further, Prime Minister Modi also announced the extension of the e-visa facility to Chinese nationals wishing to travel to India.
Later in 2016, former Indian President Pranab Mukherjee visited China's Guangdong and Beijing to meet the Chinese leaders and attended a round table between Vice Chancellors and Heads of institutions of higher learning of the two countries.
Ten MoUs, providing for enhanced faculty and student exchanges, were signed.
The visit was to reciprocate the historic visit of President Xi Jinping to India in September 2014.
He also delivered a key note at China's Peking University.
The latest in the line of visits of the leaders of both countries was Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who visited China in 2017 to participate in the G20 summit in Hangzhou and September 2017 to participate in the BRICS Summit in Xiamen.
The two leaders also met along the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Heads of States Summit in Tashkent in June 2016 and in Astana in June 2017.
Earlier in 2016, President Xi Jinping visited India to participate in the BRICS summit at Goa.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
