By IANS
Bangkok : The India-China partnership holds the key to “Asia’s emergence as the political and economic centre of the new international order”, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said here Friday.
The minister, who began his three-day visit to Thailand Thursday, also underlined that although there is bound to be “some degree of healthy competition” between the two rising Asian powers, there is “enough space and opportunity in the region, and beyond, for both India and China to grow together”.
“In our view, the India-China partnership is an important determinant for regional and global peace and development, and for Asia’s emergence as the political and economic centre of the new international order,” Mukherjee said in his keynote address on India’s Look East policy at the Institute for Security and International Studies (ISIS), Chulalongkorn University.
Mukherjee admitted there were “outstanding differences” between the two countries, including on the decades-old boundary question, but India remained committed “to addressing proactively these differences through peaceful dialogue on an equal footing” with China.
“While we remain fully conscious of our outstanding differences with China, including on the boundary question, the basic paradigm of our approach is to seek an all-round development of ties, without allowing these differences to define the agenda of the relationship,” he said.
Describing China “as India’s largest neighbour and a key emerging player in the international arena”, Mukherjee said that China remained “an important priority of our foreign policy and a key component of our Look East policy”.
The minister also underlined intensification of manifold ties between India and Southeast Asia and expressed hope that the two sides will be able to wrap up a crucial free trade agreement between them soon.
Mukherjee held talks with his Thai counterpart Nitya Pibulsonggram on bilateral relations, external affairs ministry spokesperson Navtej Sarna said here.
The two sides discussed steps to increase bilateral trade from $4 billion this year to $7 billion by 2010.
The ministers co-chaired the fifth joint commission meeting, which covers diverse areas including trade and investment, civil aviation, transportation linkages, e-energy and tourism, and signed the agreed minutes.
Mukherjee also called on Thai Prime Minister General Surayud Chulanont and discussed a host of bilateral and regional issues.