New Delhi, May 10, 2013

Honorable Ms. Nita Chowdhury, Secretary, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports,

Dear Young Indian Friends,

Warmly welcome to Chinese Embassy. I am very pleased to have you here on the eve of your visit to China. Thanks to my Indian colleagues who make efforts for the preparation of the Indian Youth visit to China.

It’s always delightful to be together with young friends. On May 4, 2013, this year’s Youth Day of China, Chinese President Xi Jinping celebrated the Youth Day with Chinese youngsters, talking about the connection between the fate of a nation and the youth. He encouraged the young people to be ambitious and responsible, with whom the nation will be prosperous and hopeful.

Both India and China rest their hopes in the young generation. Today we get together here. I can feel the passion and dreams from each of your face, full of sunshine and vitality.

In 629 AD, when Hsuan Tsang, a Buddhist monk, started his Buddha journey from China to India, he was 27 years old.

In 1938, when Dr. Dwarkanath S. Kotnis rushed to China to help Chinese people in Anti-Japanese War as a member of Indian medical team, he was 28 years old. His companions Dr. Bejoy Kumar Basu and Dr. Debesh Mukerjee were even younger, 26 years old. These young people built up a new eternal monument of China-India friendship with their youth and lives.

You may know from your media about the recent China-India border incident, or standoff. I would like to say this is an isolated and localized incident. We have recently reached consensus through peaceful consultation. The standoff has ended. I fully believe China and India have enough wisdom and ability to resolve the disputes between us.

In the past years, China and India made ​​efforts to promote mutual trust, manage differences and push forward the bilateral relations. All we have done not only benefits our two countries, but also benefits the Asia and the world as a whole.

We must firmly follow the right direction of China-India friendship. We must believe the difficulties are able to be resolved through consultations. We should not let the noise jeopardize the China-India cooperation nor let individual incident undermine the overall bilateral relations.

Over a month ago, the new Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held cordial talks during the BRIC Summit in South Africa. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang made his first phone call to Dr. Singh after his inauguration.

Right now, Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid is paying a visit to China. He discussed with his Chinese counterpart on further promotion of relations. Mr. Khurshid said to Chinese media before his trip to China that ‘under the joint efforts of the leaders of India and China in the past decade, our bilateral relations have made considerable progress. In future, India is willing to work closely with China's new leadership and open a new chapter in India-China relations.’

Finally, wish your visit to China a great success.

Thank you!