Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will arrive in India tomorrow on a three-day visit starting from Goa, the venue for the BRICS Summit, and hold talks with his counterpart Sushma Swaraj here on August 13 on key regional and bilateral issues, including China thwarting New Delhi's bid for NSG membership.
In Goa, Wang will meet the local leadership including Governor Mridula Sinha and Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar apart from visiting the BRICS venue. India is hosting the 8th BRICS Summit in October.
On whether it was unusual for a Foreign Minister to visit a state before holding official talks with his counterpart, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said it was not unusual if the minister wants to familiarise himself with the venue where his President will be attending an event.
Significantly, Wang's visit also comes just days after Chinese troops "transgressed" the border on land and by air in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand last month.
China also stalled India's Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) membership bid at the plenary meeting of the 48-nation grouping in June on the ground that it was not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Earlier, Swarup had said the leaders will discuss various issues of mutual interest, including the upcoming multilateral meetings--the G-20 Summit being held in China and the BRICS Summit.
On whether India will raise the recent incident of transgression in Uttarakhand at the meeting, Swarup said, all international, regional and bilateral issues of mutual interest will be discussed.
However, he had added that the Defence Minister has already made a statement and there are mechanisms, including at army-to-army level, to take care of such incidents.
According to sources, the Indian side is likely to raise the issue of China scuttling India's NSG membership bid.
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