India's prominent political leader Rahul Gandhi will be on a weeklong tour to China from next week, people familiar with the matter have said. Gandhi is the vice president of Indian National Congress (INC), one of India's most powerful political parties.

Sources claimed that Rahul Gandhi has been officially invited by the Communist Party of China (CPC) for a weeklong tour that commences on Jan. 15. He is likely to meet several important Chinese leaders and hold discussion on range of issues affecting both countries.

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It must be noted that a CPC delegation had visited India in May last year when they met Congress President Sonia Gandhi (Rahul Gandhi's mother) and also India's former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The CPC delegation also held a meeting with India's current Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The exchange between CPC and Indian political parities is not a new occurrence at all. The party-to-party exchange between the two Asian countries has been in practice for almost a decade now. In fact, Sonia Gandhi paid a visit to China in 2007 with an official invitation of CPC. She met the then Chinese President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao during her weeklong visit.

However, Rahul Gandhi's visit comes at a very critical time as relationship between the two countries has hit a rough patch in recent months. The contagious Masood Azhar and Nuclear Supplier Group (NSG) issues are proving to be a thorny issues in their bilateral relationship.

It is not clear whether Gandhi will be discussing these sensitive issues with the Chinese leaders during his weeklong tour.        

TagsRahul Gandhi, china, China and India, Rahul Gandhi to Visit China, India