He came, he signed and he left for Pakistan. The biggest thing on the agenda when Wen Jiabao came visiting was the yawning trade deficit between the two nations and while that sort of thing gets the pulses racing of some people, the visit had neither the spectacle of Obama nor the smooth class of Sarkozy.
The Chinese brought an entire trade delegation with them and signed six pacts aimed at increasing bilateral trade significantly. Indeed Wen gave a statement where he optimistically hoped that Sino-Indian trade would reach USD 100 billion by 2015. They also activated a hotline between the Indian PMO and the Chinese Premier.
But the visit fell far short of the historic one hoped for by New Delhi. The Chinese gave no guarantees about Kashmir, by-passed the issue of the stapled visas, refused to change their point of view about the permanent UNSC seat for India and in general gave the impression that politics was not something they really wanted to talk about.
But the highlight of the trip was a beautiful cultural program hosted in Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi. The program honoured 60 years of cultural ties between the nations and was restricted to dignitaries and school children. Now that event was a big success.
Text: Vinayak Hegde
Image: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao delivers a lecture in New Delhi on Dec 16, 2010. Wen is on a three-day trip to India aimed at building trust and strengthening economic links. (AP Photo)
India, China ink six pacts, activate hotline between PMs | Images: Dazzling ceremony marks 60 years of India-China ties
