A news report in The Hindu quoted Xi as saying he  had come to India with three goals which were aimed at strengthening the bilateral ties and building strong complementarity in the two economies.

“We plan to partner with each other to take our strategic and cooperative partnership of peace and prosperity to a higher plane,” Xi has said after being accorded a ceremonial reception at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The Chinese leader, who had arrived in New Delhi on Wednesday night from Ahmedabad where Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted a dinner for him, has said the first purpose of his visit is to carry forward the friendship between the two countries.

“China and India are both ancient civilisations with thousands of years of friendly interaction with each other. We also admire and respect each others’ civilisation. It is important that we translate the friendly contacts and make sure that we will follow what we promise each other,” Xi, who was flanked by President Pranab Mukherjee and Modi, had told reporters.(KH)