The Hindu : Front Page : India for adding greater substance to ties with China

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jan 02, 2006

Front Page

Front Page

India for adding greater substance to ties with China

P.S. Suryanarayana

Kalam, Manmohan send New Year messages "With shared determination and joint endeavour, we will be able to elevate and strengthen the India-China partnership in the 21st century"

SINGAPORE: The "fast developing relationship" between India and China "transcends the bilateral dimension and is an important determinant for the peace and stability, as well as development and prosperity, of Asia and the world."

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh emphasised this new political dynamic, while sending warm felicitations and cordial greetings to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Sunday and heralding the beginning of the India-China Friendship Year. Dr. Singh said: "it is important that we continue adding greater substance to our bilateral exchanges and international cooperation."

In a parallel message to Chinese President Hu Jintao, President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam traced the "unique dimension" of the present bilateral relations to the historical context.

In his message to Mr. Wen, full text of which was released by the Indian Embassy in Beijing, Dr. Singh recalled with pleasure "the warm exchange of views we had in Kuala Lumpur on the sidelines of the [recent] East Asia Summit where we reiterated our mutual resolve to accelerate the momentum of our wide-ranging cooperation."

Friendship and cooperation between India and China "is our shared aspiration, which is also in consonance with our common long-term and strategic vision of the relationship," he said.

"As we celebrate the India-China Friendship Year with a series of commemorative events, we note with satisfaction the sustained growth and diversification of our relations." He expressed confidence that "with shared determination and joint endeavour, we will be able to elevate and strengthen the India-China partnership in the 21st century."

Milestones

Outlining the "backdrop" for these possibilities and noting that "a number of important milestones" were reached on the bilateral scene last year, Dr. Singh singled out Mr. Wen's historic visit to India.

The Prime Minister said: "We agreed to elevate our relationship to a `Strategic and Cooperative

Partnership for Peace and Prosperity.' We also made significant progress in addressing some of the long-standing issues in our relationship without allowing them to define the agenda of our cooperative ties. We are confident that in the New Year we will be able to continue, with greater determination, to impart further depth and substance to our rapidly growing ties, and add an important new chapter to India-China friendship."

Kalam's message to Hu

In his message to Mr. Hu, Mr. Kalam said "the qualitative upgrading of our relationship, which is manifest across an array of collaborative pursuits our two countries are engaged in, has created conditions for raising the level of our ties to newer heights in this Friendship Year, even as we jointly move forward to address outstanding issues."

Expressing satisfaction over "the remarkable growth and diversification of India-China relations in recent years" and exuding optimism for the future, Mr. Kalam said: "Today, the footprints of India and China are increasingly visible and have made an impact on the global landscape in diverse areas. Our common pursuit of a peaceful environment for the paramount task of achieving national construction and prosperity adds great value to the India-China partnership."

The Friendship Year "is truly a tribute to the distance traversed, through friendly exchanges and

contacts, by our two nations through the labyrinth of time," he said in his greetings to Mr. Hu.

Mr. Kalam said: "The deep historical and cultural association that our two ancient civilisations share has made rich contributions in shaping the development of humanity, and gives a unique dimension to India-China relations in contemporary time. It is, therefore, befitting that the vision of friendship, reflected in the principles of Panchsheel jointly enunciated by our forefathers more than 50 years ago, has been taken a step further by our decision to establish an `India-China Strategic and Cooperative Partnership for Peace and Prosperity' during the visit of Premier Wen Jiabao to India last year."

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page