Li's India visit attracts global attention

Tributes to Indian doctor

China's premier paid his respects Tuesday to the family of an Indian doctor who died treating Chinese troops more than 70 years ago, becoming a rare symbol of friendship between the two nations, said AFP. Excerpts:

Li Keqiang, like Chinese leaders before him, took time out of his busy India visit to meet relatives of Dwarkanath Kotnis, who provided emergency medical aid for four years during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1937-45). And he has remained a widely revered figure in China for his war work.

Manorama Kotnis, one of the doctor's seven siblings and the only one still alive, will meet the Chinese premier at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in the financial capital Mumbai, along with four of her younger relatives.

"I'm very proud and happy that he still remembers my brother," said the 92-year-old lady on Monday at her home in Mumbai's Vile Parle suburb, where old pictures of her legendary brother sit proudly on display.

Born in Maharashtra province, of which Mumbai is the capital, Kotnis was one of five medical volunteers dispatched from India in 1938, following a request for help from the fellow Asian giant. Manorama, who was a teenager when her older brother left, said the team was only supposed to go for a year. But her brother stayed on for four years, joining the Communist Party of China and marrying a Chinese nurse, with whom he had a son a few months before he died of epilepsy in 1942, aged 32.

Winning Indians' hearts

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang won the hearts of Indians with his knowledge of India, says an article in The Times of India. Excerpts:

While Chinese Premier Li Keqiang came across as loquacious and jovial in his interaction with Indian leaders - a far cry from several other Chinese leaders who have visited here in the past - he also won hearts with his knowledge of India.

Li had his Indian interlocutors in splits when he told them how he had loved watching Bollywood movie 3 Idiots. Bollywood movies have only recently started to attract eyeballs in China. The Chinese leader said that his daughter was so impressed with the movie that she made him watch it.

Li also spoke about Steve Jobs' biography and the Apple co-founder's experiences in the country in his salad days. The Chinese premier spoke about how Jobs had travelled to India in search of enlightenment. Jobs, though, had few flattering things to say about India describing his India adventure as disturbing.

While Li had travelled to India in the 1980s as the chief of a youth delegation - when he got a chance to visit the Taj Mahal - his interest in India was rekindled after he rose to become the governor of Henan province. The province is home to the oldest Buddhist temple, called the Baima or White Horse temple in China. This is where he developed some interest in Indian culture and heritage.