PM Modi with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Big Wild Goose Pagoda in Xian. (Courtesy: DD News)
On Thursday evening, after a dinner banquet hosted by President Xi Jinping for Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the ancient city of Xian, the two leaders will walk out to the courtyard of the Pot City for a cultural performance.
Before dinner, PM Modi will be given a traditional Tang Dynasty welcome.
In September last year, when President Xi visited India, he had strolled with PM Modi on the banks of the Sabarmati river in Ahmedabad and he too was treated to a cultural performance. The two leaders had famously sat on a traditional Gujarati swing, chatting.
Xian, the PM's first stop on his
three-day tour of China, is the hometown of President Xi Jinping and his hosting PM Modi there is a reciprocal gesture after his visit to Mr Modi's home state Gujarat last year. It is also a departure from protocol and is seen as a sign of the importance China is attaching to this visit.
Welcoming PM Modi President Xi said today, "You received me very warmly in your hometown. I am very
glad to receive you in my hometown."
PM Modi appreciated the Chinese leader receiving him outside Beijing. "This is an honour to 125 crore Indians whom I am representing as Prime Minister," he said.
"It is very rare for Chinese leaders to accompany foreign guests outside Beijing," the state-run China Daily noted. It said PM Modi would be given "the highest-level reception."
After talks with President Xi, which will set the tone for formal government to government talks in Beijing tomorrow, Prime Minister Modi will visit the famous Wild Goose Pagoda, a spiritual structure built to highlight famous Chinese Buddhist monk Xuan Zang's journey to India in 645 AD through the ancient Silk Road.
He also visited a famous terracotta warriors museum this morning.
PM Modi has met President Xi three times during the last one year and held extensive talks on a wide range of issues.