Indian PM Meets Chinese President on Bilateral Ties
13/04/2017
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met Chinese President Hu Jintao Wednesday in SanyaCity of south China’s HainanProvince to exchange views on bilateral ties and issues of common concern.
Hu and Singh are meeting on the sidelines of BRICS Leaders Meeting scheduled for Thursday in Sanya. It is the first meeting between the two countries’ senior leaders this year.
The two leaders agreed to further deepen China-India strategic cooperative partnership so as to push forward the development of the two countries. They also vowed to promote peace, stability and prosperity in Asia as well as the world.
President Hu said China and India, as important neighbors to each other, are both emerging economies.
Relations between the two countries have maintained healthy and stable development momentum since April 2010, Hu said.
The president said exchanges and cooperation in various arenas between the two countries have been deepening continuously and the two sides have maintained close communication and coordination on global issues of great significance.
The global and strategic significance of China-India relations is highlighted as the world is going through great changes, Hu said, adding that bilateral relations between the two countries have a broad future.
China and India designated the year of 2011 as the “Year of China-India Exchange”. Hu said the two sides should take this opportunity to broaden communication and cooperation in various fields and to elevate the bilateral ties to a new height.
Firstly, the two countries should maintain high-level exchanges and to enhance political mutual trust, Hu said.
China and India should expand exchanges between governments, legislative bodies and political parties. The two sides should take the advantage of political dialogue and consultation to exchange views timely on bilateral ties and other important issues of common concern, Hu said.
Secondly, Hu suggested the two sides expand economic and trade cooperation for mutual benefit.
China and India should hold the first meeting under the strategic and economic dialogue mechanism as soon as possible, Hu said. The two sides should actively promote cooperation in fields such as infrastructure, information technology, investment, project contracting and banking sector to achieve a win-win result.
Thirdly, Hu suggested the two sides broaden people-to-people exchanges so as to enhance mutual understanding.
China and India announced the official start of the “Year of China-India Exchange” on Wednesday. China will invite 500 Indian young people from all walks of life to visit China, Hu said, adding that China is also willing to provide support to Indian middle and high schools in teaching Chinese.
Fourthly, Hu said he hoped the two countries solve differences properly and safeguard peace and stability.
Hu said China is willing to further push forward negotiations on border issues on the basis of peace and friendliness, equal consultation, mutual respect and understanding. The two sides should consider setting up a consultation and coordination mechanism on border issues so as to achieve consensus as soon as possible and to better maintain peace and stability at the border regions before the issues are solved.
Singh said he totally agreed with Hu’s four-point proposals on developing the relations between the two countries.
China and India announced the establishment of their strategic and cooperative partnership in 2005.
Singh said economic and trade cooperation is the cornerstone for the two countries’ strategic cooperation. He said India welcomes and encourages Chinese enterprises to invest in the country, especially in the area of infrastructure.
China is India’s largest trade partner. Bilateral trade jumped to 61.8 billion U.S. dollars last year from 18.7 billion dollars in 2005.
The Indian prime minister said India hopes to promote people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.
He also said that India is willing to join hands with China to find a mutually acceptable solution for border issues.
President Hu said China and India share far-ranging mutual interests in international and regional affairs. China would like to join hands with India in strengthening coordination and cooperation within the United Nations, the Group of 20 as well as within the BRICS mechanism that houses Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, Hu said.
Hu said he hoped China and India could help each other in participating regional cooperation and safeguarding mutual interests by jointly coping with issues like climate change, food and energy security.
Singh said the India-China relations go beyond bilateral significance and have strong bearing on international and regional peace and stability.
India would intensify coordination with China in dealing with global challenges and safeguarding interests of the two countries as well as other developing nations, Singh said.
The two leaders also exchanged views on issues of common concern such as the situation in west Asia and North Africa.