The Hindu : National : An important landmark in our ties: Kalam

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Apr 03, 2005

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National

An important landmark in our ties: Kalam

By Our Diplomatic Correspondent

NEW DELHI, APRIL 2. The President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, and the External Affairs Minister, Natwar Singh, have greeted their Chinese counterparts Hu Jintao, Wen Jiabao and Li Zhaoxing, on the 55th anniversary of the diplomatic relations established between India and China.

In a letter to Mr. Hu on Friday, the President wrote, "The establishment of diplomatic relations [on April 1, 1950] between the two countries was an important landmark in our relations in modern times. The shared vision of [the] relationship, which was reflected in the principles of Panchsheel jointly enunciated by our leaders, not only continues to be the bedrock of India-China relations, but also guides the world to peace, stability and development."

As two of the world's largest and the most populous countries and rapidly developing economies, India and China were uniquely poised to define the contours of the international political and economic landscape, he said.

`A source of strength'

"Close cooperation and good neighbourly relations between us offer a source of strength and stability in the international relations amid the contemporary global uncertainties. We both seek a peaceful environment for our paramount task of national construction and for ensuring the well-being of our peoples. The way our relationship had made headway in recent years gives us enough confidence and hope for the future of our cooperation."

In his message to Mr. Wen, the Prime Minister said the sustained growth and diversification of relations in recent years reflected the common commitment of the two nations to take their relationship to new heights, while proactively addressing differences in a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable manner.

"Today our relationship has entered a new phase of comprehensive development. Continuing high level exchanges have enormously contributed to our mutual trust and understanding. I am confident that this process will be further strengthened by Your Excellency's visit to India in the coming days," he wrote.

"Both India and China share the aspiration to build a just, equitable and democratic international political and economic order on the twin pillars of multipolarisation and multilateralism. As the world becomes increasingly inter-dependent it is important for our two countries to join hands to harness the positive forces of globalisation and safeguard the interests of the developing countries.

"Close cooperation and good neighbourly relations between us are not only our shared commitment but also an imperative in the backdrop of today's fast changing international environment as well as in keeping with the long term and strategic vision of the relationship that we both espouse," Dr. Singh said.

"I look forward to having comprehensive discussions with Your Excellency to further enrich and strengthen our constructive and cooperative partnership, taking into account the global and strategic perspective of our relations," Dr. Singh said.

Mr. Natwar Singh said friendship and peace between India and China was the common aspiration of our two peoples and the two Governments. As the two largest developing countries with a combined population of one third of humanity, positive developments in India-China relations played a stabilising role amid growing global complexities. In his letter to Mr. Li Zhaoxing, he added, "It is satisfying to see that with the joint efforts of both sides our bilateral relations have qualitatively developed and diversified across a wide range of areas and have reached a level of maturity where we feel confident of addressing outstanding issues in a purposive manner while continuously identifying newer areas of mutually beneficial cooperation."

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