Our Correspondent
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a three nation tour from May 14th. He will visit China, Mongolia and Korea from May 14th to 19th. An official of the External Affairs Ministry said that Prime Minister will visit Xian, Beijing and Shanghai in China from May 14th to 16th. He will hold bilateral meetings with Chinese leadership and participate in cultural and business events. The Prime Minister will also attend an event organized by the Indian community in China.
Ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit to China, India has relaxed the border trade by raising the transaction value of consignments between the two countries. In a notification, Directorate General of Foreign Trade said that for border trade between India and China, the Cost, Insurance and Freight or CIF value per consignment is being increased from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh in case of Nathula, while for Gunji and Namgaya Shipkila, the existing CIF value limit of Rs 25,000 is being enhanced to Rs 1 lakh.
Traders at the border areas primarily import carpets, ready-made garments, blankets, shoes, jackets and quilts and export mostly vegetable oil, rice, processed food, canned food, textiles and copper items. Our correspondent reports that India will take up the issue and greater market access for domestic products during the Prime Minister’s visit to China.
Modi will reach Mongolia on 17th of this month in the second leg of his visit. This is the first ever visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Mongolia.
The Prime Minister’s visit to South Korea will be from 18th to 19th of May. Mr Modi will hold bilateral discussions with President Park Geun-hye and meet with important business leaders in Seoul.
Ahead of his visit to China, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has joined the Chinese social media platform Weibo. Prime Minister Modi has been using diverse social media platforms to reach out effectively and he has strong presence on micro blogging site Twitter with more than 12 million followers while nearly six million follow Prime Minister’s Office. In China, Twitter does not provide services but Weibo is the most popular social media platform.
Modi’s first post announced his visit to China in an informal manner and interaction with Chinese friends through Weibo. The first post by the Prime Minister was seen by five million plus and was followed by more than 20,000. His second post Mr Modi’s second post referenced Buddhism and unity in Asia. With the Weibo platform, Prime Minister will have a direct reach to some 500 million Chinese people.