The Indian and Chinese presidents are expected to exchange letters of greetings to mark the beginning of celebrations of the 70th year of Sino-India ties on Wednesday.

The 70 events planned by the two countries to mark the milestone year, however, are likely to impacted by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic that have killed more than 38,000 and sickened over 80,0000 globally.

India was among the first non-Communist countries to recognise the People's Republic of China (PRC) when it was formed under the rule of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 1950 after years of a civil war.

New Delhi and Beijing have finalised a long list of events to mark the year including dozens of exchange programmes and cultural, religious and trade promotion activities.

The events planned both in China and in India are likely to postponed because of the pandemic.

Both countries have implemented strict restrictions on international travel, which are unlikely to be resumed immediately, to contain the spread of the virus.

The 70 events were finalised in line with the understanding reached by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping during their 2nd Informal Summit at Mamallapuram on October 11-12, last year.

The Indian Embassy here said soon after that summit that the activities were aimed at demonstrating the historic connection between the two civilisations as well as their growing bilateral relationship over the years despite several differences.

In 2018, Modi and Xi held the first informal summit in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, signalling a thaw in the chill that had set in bilateral ties following the military standoff between the border troops of the two countries near the Sikkim border.

The two countries have continued to maintain close exchanges despite several old and new differences, the primary of which continues to be the disputed boundary question that has cast a shadow on bilateral ties for decades.

Experts say its the lack of mutual trust between the two countries that have historically hampered the relationship between the two populous neighbours.

The details of the letters to be exchanged between President Ram Nath Kovind and President Xi Jinping were not immediately available.

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