Ambassador of India to China Mr. Ashok K. Kantha met the Mayor of Shanghai, Mr. Yang Xiong, on the morning of 24 March 2014. Ambassador briefed Mayor Yang on the current state of India-China bilateral relations and the momentum that the relationship had acquired in recent years. Noting the important role played by Shanghai in India-China economic and commercial ties, Ambassador highlighted the potential for expanding and diversifying trade & economic cooperation. He noted that Shanghai based companies were doing a number of projects in India, and said that enterprises from Shanghai should build on this foundation and should consider increasing their investments in India.  Mayor Yang warmly welcomed Ambassador and recalled his last visit to India in 2003. He said that in recent years, relations between Shanghai and India had made steady progress and added that Shanghai municipal government remained committed to further strengthening its relations with India.

Ambassador also discussed the series of activities that the Embassy and the Consulates in China plan to organize under the "Glimpses of India" Festival in China in year 2014, which has been declared by the two sides as the "Year of Friendly Exchanges". The Mayor assured full support of the Shanghai Municipal Government for the proposed activities in Shanghai under the Year of Friendly Exchanges.