![Premier Li Keqiang and visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi watch a yoga and tai chi exercise event at Temple of Heaven Park in Beijing on Friday.[Photo by FENG YONGBIN / CHINA DAILY]](U491P886T1D165608F12DT20150516073731.jpg "Premier Li Keqiang and visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi watch a yoga and tai chi exercise event at Temple of Heaven Park in Beijing on Friday.[Photo by FENG YONGBIN / CHINA DAILY]")
Premier Li Keqiang and visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi watch a yoga and tai chi exercise event at Temple of Heaven Park in Beijing on Friday.[Photo by FENG YONGBIN / CHINA DAILY]
'Our people know very little of each other,' says PM on trip to Beijing
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wooed Chinese visitors on Friday by announcing a liberal visa regime to facilitate business and tourist travel.
The move came as the Asian giants pledged to boost trade volumes that Premier Li Keqiang said do not match their economic clout.
Chinese will be able to apply for an Indian electronic tourist visa, or e-visa, Modi said during a speech at Beijing's Tsinghua University.
"About 33 percent of the world's population is either Indian or Chinese, yet our people know very little of each other," he said.
Indian media have reported that Modi overcame the resistance from security agencies and backed the foreign and tourism ministries over the visa plan. The program's launch date has not been announced.
Travelers will be able to apply for an e-visa online, and the document will be valid for 30 days.
Once an application is approved, the authorization to travel will be issued by e-mail, according to visa agency indianvisaonline.org.
About 145,000 Chinese traveled to India in 2013, while Thailand attracted 4.7 million, according to tourism authorities.
Tour agencies complain that strict visa procedures have discouraged Chinese tourists from going to India, although they are increasingly fond of traveling overseas.
The e-visa is one of a number of initiatives agreed to by the two countries as they seek to boost exchanges while putting the long-standing border question to one side.
They signed 24 deals on Friday after Li and Modi held talks that ran for nearly an hour longer than scheduled. The deals, which Indian media say are worth more than $10 billion, include an action plan for collaboration on railways.
"We just had in-depth talks and touched on a wide range of topics, which we both expect to yield common ground and results," Li said after the meeting. "It is fair to say that we met expectations."
