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Red-carpet welcome accorded to Prime Minister Vajpayee
Beijing, June 23 (UNI) The Chinese government today accorded a red-carpet welcome to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who arrived here yesterday on a six-day official visit, the first by an Indian Prime Minister in over a decade.
A 21-gun salute was laid on as the Prime Minister reached the Great Hall of the People on Tianamen Square, where he was greeted by his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao. The Chinese Premier escorted Mr Vajpayee to the podium, where he viewed a guard of honour, comprising personnel from all the three wings of the Chinese defence forces.
After the reception, the Prime Minister had a restricted meeting with the Chinese Premier, in the Great Hall of the People, which houses the offices of the National People's Congress. Only the Foreign Ministers and Secretaries were present. After some time, they joined the full delegations for official talks.
Several agreements on economic relations, culture, education and science and technology were signed at the meeting. The agreements include a key consular pact to ease visa restrictions.
Mr Vajpayee will address the students of the Centre for India Studies at Beijing University this afternoon.
The teaching of Indian studies, had begun in 1917, when the then Principal of Beijing University Cai Yuanpei asked scholar Liang Shumin to start a course on Indian Philosophy at the university.
The Department of Oriental Languages and Literature, in whose Foreign Language Institute the teaching and rearearch on Indian studies takes place, was set up in 1946. It has three departments dealing with India. These include Sanskrit and Pali, Hindi and Urdu.
He will later lay the foundation stone for the new Chancery building to be built for the Indian Embassy at the new embassy and business district of east Beijing at Liangmahe Road. Besides the Chancery building, a multipurpose hall, library and a few residences for officials and staff members will also be built.
Construction work is expected to begin by the end of this year and be completed by 2005.
Mr Vajpayee will tomorrow deliver a keynote address at the ''China-India Economic Cooperation and Development Seminar.'' The function, organised by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) in association with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), will be attended by more than 50 top Indian and Chinese businessmen and industrialists.
Commerce ministers of both the countries and the Presidents of the chambers of commerce will also deliver speeches on the occasion.
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