NEW DELHI: Differences over key issues between India and China will not come in the way of the 2 countries ramping up political contacts. India will host a 6-member delegation of the powerful Central Committee of the Communist Party of China ( CPC ) for 5 days starting Wednesday, official sources told TOI.The delegation will be headed by Meng Xiangfeng, a close confidant of President Xi Jinping and Deputy Director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee. The visit, which is happening under the aegis of MEA’s exchange programme with International Liaison Department of CPC (IDCPC), will the delegation interacting with a host of BJP leaders and minister including commerce minister Suresh Prabhu, MoS (MEA) V K Singh and Maharashtra CM Devendra FadnavisThis will be the third high-profile visit in quick succession from China after those by foreign minister Wang Yi and state councillor Yang Jiechi. Xi and PM Narendra Modi , during the latter’s visit to China in 2015, had agreed to provide a fillip to the MEA-IDCPC exchange programme as a means for enhancing contact between Indian states and Chinese provinces.Referred to as CPC’s highest organ of authority when the Chinese Parliament, National People’s Congress, is not in session, the Central Committee is responsible for electing members of the party’s Politburo and Politburo Standing Committee.Ironically, the delegation will land in India on a day the Indian foreign minister, Sushma Swaraj, will start her 3-nation tour of southeast Asia – to Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia – looking to further boost India’s "intensive bilateral interactions’’ with the region within the framework of its Act Policy.Swaraj will be in Thailand on the first leg of her visit where she will meet her counterpart Don Pramudwinai to discuss all bilateral issues with a focus on political, defence and economic ties and on further enhancing India's engagement with Asean countries. Thailand, as the MEA said in a statement, will assume the role of coordinator country for India-Asean relations in the middle of 2018.Beijing will closely follow a series of substantive engagements which the government has lined up with Asean nations this month, on the occasion of 25 years of India-Asean Dialogue Partnership, including the invite to the head of government of all 10 Asean nations for the Republic Day parade. Several countries in the region, who believe that India has the potential to act as a counter-weight to China, have repeatedly urged India to enhance its presence in southeast Asia.In Indonesia, Swaraj will call on President Joko Widodo and also meet new Asean Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi. "As the biggest country in the Asean region with the largest economy, Indonesia is an important partner for India including in trade and strategic matters. In recent times, there has been intensive engagement between the two countries bilaterally, as well as plurilaterally,’’ said the government in a statement.Finally, Swaraj will also visit Singapore where she will inaugurate the Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) of Asean countries on January 7. The theme of the event is "Ancient Route, New Journey: Diaspora in the Dynamic Asean-India Partnership". She will have bilateral meetings with the leaders in Singapore and also interactions with PIO delegations from Asean countries, who are participating in the PBD, said the government.