Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Luo Zhaohui was among the several dignitaries and Beijing-based diplomats who visited the Indian Embassy here to pay homage to former president Pranab Mukherjee. The 84-year-old veteran politician died on Monday evening in a hospital in New Delhi following a 21-day battle with multiple ailments.
The Indian Embassy in Beijing has opened a condolence book for representatives from the Chinese government, resident diplomatic missions and members of the Indian community on September 3-4. Luo, who was also the former Chinese ambassador to India, visited the Indian mission on Thursday to sign the book, the Embassy tweeted.
Earlier, China paid rich tributes to Mukherjee saying he was a veteran statesman and his death is a huge loss for India-China friendship. “Former President Mukherjee was a veteran statesman of India. In his 50 years in politics, he made positive contributions to China-India relations,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a media briefing here on Tuesday.
Referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to India in 2014 and his meeting with Mukherjee, she said after the meeting the two countries issued a joint statement on building closer development partnership. “It is a heavy loss for China-India friendship and to India. We express deep condolences over his passing and extend sincere sympathies to the Indian government and his family,” Hua said.
Indian Embassy officials said besides Luo, a large number of Beijing-based diplomats from Russia, EU and Africa visited the mission and signed the condolence book. From the neighbourhood, envoys of Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka besides members of the Indian community visited the Indian mission to pay their homage to the former president.
LIVE TV
