China Thursday tried to strike a romantic chord with India when its military band played golden oldies of Bollywood like 'mera naam chin chin chu' and 'bar bar dekho' at a state banquet hosted in honour of President Pratibha Patil by her counterpart Hu Jintao.
The band of People's Liberation Army (PLA) also played 'gore gore o banke chhore' and 'Roja jaaneman' as part of the five Indian songs it presented before the distinguished guests.
Indian delegates were pleasantly surprised by the selection of songs by the band, whose music conductor Zhang Haifeng also played five non-Indian numbers.
Several Chinese and Indian leaders attended the banquet, including Minister of State for Food Processing Subodh Kant Sahay and Chinese State Councillor Dai Bingguo.
At the banquet held at the Great Hall of the People, the guests were served with an elaborate cuisine, including chicken soup with bean curd flakes, roasted mutton chop with curry and codfish with tomato sauce.
However the President was also given a vegetarian choice, sources said.
Patil, the first Indian head of state to visit China in a decade, is on a six-day visit to the country.
Earlier in the day, she discussed issues of mutual interest with Chinese President Hu, Premier Wen Jiabao and Chairman of the National People's Congress Wu Bangguo.
Patil's visit here has coincided with the 60th anniversary celebrations of the establishment of the Sino-India diplomatic ties.