Aamir Khan to be appointed India's brand ambassador to China? Here is what China has to say

NEW DELHI: Amid reports that the Indian government may appoint Bollywood star Aamir Khan as brand ambassador to China to boost trade between the two countries, China has hailed the idea. Responding to questions, China's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying's said: "We all know that Aamir Khan is a famous Indian actor. Many Chinese people, including myself, have watched his film Dangal which tells the inspirational story of how Mahavir Singh Phogat and his daughters strived and persisted until their dream came true."

The statement comes ahead of the meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping where the two world leaders will discuss a wide variety of subjects including border issue. No agreements are likely to be signed after the one-on-one yet informal meeting between the two.

Speaking about the ties between the two countries, the Chinese foreign ministry said that there is a momentum of development. "At present, under the strategic guidance of the Chinese and Indian leaders, bilateral ties are enjoying a sound momentum of development, with the flourishing cultural and people-to-people exchanges in particular. Our two countries have forged 14 pairs of sister cities and province," she said. She also added that over one million mutual visits between the two countries were held last year. 

"Yoga and Bollywood films have become the trendy things to do among the young Chinese people. These exchanges have enhanced the mutual understanding, friendship and mutual trust between our two countries and have made our two peoples feel closer to each other," she added.

She said that during the meeting in Wuhan, the two leaders will have an "in-depth exchange of views on the overall, long-term and strategic issues concerning the future development of China-India relations." 

"We stand ready to work with the Indian side and take this important meeting as an opportunity to strive for faster and better development of China-India relations at a new starting point," she said.