India's ruling Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi met with China's top leaders Friday on a visit widely seen as a sign of improving relations between the world's two most populous nations.
Accompanied by her son Rahul, Sonia Gandhi met with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao at the Zhongnanhai leadership compound and later met with President Hu Jintao at the Great Hall of the People. The gesture indicated the level of importance China attaches to Gandhi's visit as its top leaders normally only officially meet with other heads of state.
Gandhi described her trip as "a milestone in strengthening the relations between the two countries," when she met with Chinese Communist Party official Wang Jiarui earlier Friday, the Press Trust of India news agency said. "I am amazed and astounded at the progress made by the people of China and its leadership," she said.
Gandhi's visit comes amid turmoil within her party over a nuclear accord with the United States that has upset the government's left party coalition partners who disapprove of New Delhi's warming relations with Washington.
Under the civilian atomic energy agreement with the United States, India will get nuclear fuel and technology though it has not signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Beijing has remained non-committal on support for the deal, which needs the approval of the 45-member-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group.
Her visit is also seen as an effort to allay Chinese concerns over the Indian government's growing partnership with Washington. The Asian giants fought a brief but bitter war in 1962, and still have to resolve the border dispute that led to the conflict.