New Delhi, June 22: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee leaves for a six-day visit to China today. The high-profile visit will focus on enhancing people to people contacts, including easing of visa regime across the board , strengthening of trade and commercial relations and resolving the boundary dispute. India and China will sign a number of important agreements aimed at sending a "powerful political signal" to forge "stronger" bilateral ties.

Bilateral relations in "all its aspects" will figure in the talks Vajpayee will have with his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao and other top leaders, foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal told reporters when asked if the boundary and Sikkim issues would come up during the discussions.

To a spate of questions on the protracted border question, he said "there is absolutely no expectation on either side that this visit will result in any settlement of the boundary dispute. That process is already underway...this process is independent of the visit."


Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee`s visit to China will be especially significant for improving trade between the two countries, Commerce and Industry Minister Arun Jaitley said earlier.

Jaitley, who is a member of the delegation accompanying the Prime Minister, said "there are a large number of trade issues, of cooperation, of mutual trade, of growth, which would be common to both, and certainly these are the ones which will form the core of discussions."

Appropriate arrangements have been made in China ahead of the high-profile visit. Bureau Report