The exchange of notes between China and India on bilateral consular convention's coverage of the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions will occur on July 28.
The notes were signed on June 27 after the two sides reached agreement on the issue.
It is learned that during their negotiations, the central government of China, in line with basic laws, has taken into consideration the opinions from the Hong Kong and Macao regional governments.
The consular convention between China and India was signed on December 13, 1991 in New Delhi of India and took effect on October 30, 1992.
So far, China has signed consular conventions or agreements with 40 countries, 37 of which were signed before July 1, 1997 when Hong Kong was returned to the motherland, and the Sino-Indian one is the first among the 37 to be applied to Hong Kong and Macao.
The other three of the 40 conventions or agreements were signed between Hong Kong's return and Macao's return on December 20, 1999, thus, they can be applied to Hong Kong.
(People's Daily 07/16/2001)
