The Hindu : International / India & World : Wen calls for China-India harmony

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 29, 2004

International

International - India & World

Wen calls for China-India harmony

By P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE, JUNE 28. The Chinese Prime Minister, Wen Jiabao, today called for Sino-Indian harmony by affirming that it would contribute to global stability. He also suggested that the two counties shelve differences.

At a rally held in Beijing today to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the proclamation of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence (Panchsheel), Mr. Wen said: "It serves the fundamental interests of the two peoples and contributes to peace, stability and development in Asia and the world over, for the two countries to live together in harmony, remain friends for ever, seek common ground while shelving differences and strive for mutual benefit and a win-win result." He expressed confidence that "brilliant new chapters" would be added to the "annals of China-India friendship and cooperation" through "the concerted efforts of the two sides."

India and China had now reaffirmed their commitment to the Five Principles, he said and added that the leaders of the two countries at the highest echelons had also "expressed resolve to expand and deepen the long-term constructive and cooperative partnership."

Tracing the origins of Panchsheel, Mr. Wen said, "the Five Principles came about as a historical inevitability" following the collapse of the colonial system after the Second World War. China, India and Myanmar had then "initiated" these principles by going along with "the tide of history." Panchsheel was thereafter "enthusiastically echoed by many more countries." Maintaining that these principles "have withstood the test of time," he said: "We cannot but feel the greatest respect for and cherish the deepest memory of those elder statesmen, Chinese or otherwise, who not only advocated the Five Principles but also practised them meticulously."

Mr. Wen said the Five Principles not only indicated an "effective way" to resolve international disputes, including those "left over by history," but also "provided an important philosophical basis for the establishment of a new international political and economic order that is just and rational."

China, for its part, "is ready to work with other countries" so as to carry forward the implementation of the Five Principles — mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity; mutual non-aggression; non-interference in each other's internal affairs; equality and mutual benefit and peaceful coexistence.

Beijing, Mr. Wen said, would adopt a five-point approach by "firmly upholding the principle of sovereign equality... respecting and maintaining the diversity of world's civilisations... promoting common development of the world's economies on the basis of equality and mutual benefit ... maintaining peace and security through dialogue and cooperation... giving full scope to the important role of the U.N. and other multilateral mechanisms."

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