Ahmedabad, Sep 18: There were many firsts on Wednesday when Prime Minister Narendra Modi received Chinese President Xi Jinping in Ahmedabad.
It was the first time an Indian PM was receiving a foreign head of the state outside Delhi. There was also a departure from the tradition of signing international agreements in the national capital.
Modi made the exception because he wanted to showcase Ahmedabad's development to the visiting dignitary.
And then, Xi became the first Chinese leader since Zhou Enlai to be feted at a civic reception. Relations, which nosedived after the 1962 war, improved in later years but not to extent where an Indian leader would make a public show of engagement with a neigbour of which people remain wary.
Though Modi's prime ministership in only months old, his engagement with China has been deep since he was Gujarat chief minister.
Also, unlike the US, China did not ostracize him over the 2002 riots.
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