Chinese President Jiang Zemin offered condolences to his Indian counterpart Thursday after a severe earthquake killed more than 700 people in India.
In a letter to Indian President Kocheril Raman Narayanan, Jiang Zemin expressed his condolences over the tragic loss of life and property, and delivered his sympathy to victims and their relatives.
Li Peng, chairman of the Standing Committee of Chinese National People's Congress (NPC), and Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji also offered condolences to their Indian counterparts earlier in the day.
In a letter to Chairman Krishan Kant of India's Upper House of the Parliament and Speaker G.M.C. Balayogi of the House of the People, Li Peng expressed profound sympathy on behalf of the NPC to victims and their relatives.
Premier Zhu Rongji wrote to Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on behalf of the Chinese government to offer condolences over the tragic loss of life and property.
The quake, registering 7.9 in magnitude, reportedly killed more than 700 persons.
It was reportedly the most intense quake in India in half a century, India's Meteorological Center said.
(CIIC 01/27/2001)
