Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his Chinese counterpart, Wen Jiabao, on Friday decided to remain in touch with each other on bilateral and other issues of common interest, official sources said in Shanghai.
Vajpayee and Wen spoke on telephone for ten minutes and the two leaders decided to stay in touch on issues concerning bilateral ties as well as other issues of common interest, the sources said.
The two leaders talked on phone just minutes before Vajpayee concluded his six-day official trip to China, the first by an Indian Prime Minister in a decade.
During the conversation, 78-year-old Vajpayee renewed his invitation to Wen, 18 years his junior, to visit India at his convenience. He also thanked Wen for the warm and cordial reception given to him and his delegation during the visit.
Vajpayee met Wen for the first time in Beijing on Monday and the two leaders had two rounds of talks lasting over two hours and reached wide-ranging consensus on sensitive bilateral issues, including the boundary dispute, Sikkim and Tibet.
During his three-day stay in the Chinese capital, Vajpayee had official meeting with Wen and called on Chinese President Hu Jintao, who is also the General Secretary of the ruling Communist Party of China.
{{/usCountry}}During his three-day stay in the Chinese capital, Vajpayee had official meeting with Wen and called on Chinese President Hu Jintao, who is also the General Secretary of the ruling Communist Party of China.
{{/usCountry}}He also met with former Chinese President Jiang Zemin, who is still influential in Chinese politics due to his top military post as the Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), the apex body of the world's largest standing army, the People's Liberation Army (PLA).