China's President Xi Jinping will make his first state visit to rival Asian giant India next week, officials said Tuesday, as Beijing sought to allay fears it is encircling its neighbour. The announcement came just a week after India's recently elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged to take ties to a "new level" with Japan, a move seen as an attempt to shore up regional alliances to counter China's increasing might.
Xi's four-nation trip begins this Thursday in the central Asian state of Tajikistan, before going on to the South Asian island states of the Maldives and Sri Lanka, culminating in India, the Chinese foreign ministry said on its website. It did not give specific dates but said the tour would finish on September 19. Ties between India and China have long been clouded by suspicion over disputed territory in the Himalayas, which saw a brief border war in 1962.