By Manish Chand, IANS,
Brasilia : Ruling out any competition and rivalry between their countries, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese President Hu Jintao Thursday agreed to intensify efforts to resolve the boundary row and spur greater market access for each other´s products.
Manmohan Singh and Hu held wide-ranging talks for 45 minutes at Hotel Grand Bittar in the heart of the Brazilian capital on the sidelines of the Brazil-Russia-India (IBSA) and Brazil-Russia-India-China (BRIC) summits.
Before beginning their formal talks, the two leaders shook hands and smiled for the cameras at Hotel Grand Bittar where Hu is staying.
Hu opened the conversation by telling the Indian prime minister that he will be rushing back Thursday night to China in view of a massive 6.9 quake that struck Qinghai province Wednesday.
Manmohan Singh expressed sorrow and grief at the loss of lives and property in the quake and offered India`s readiness to help the injured and the displaced.
The two leaders discussed an entire spectrum of bilateral, regional and global issues, including the boundary dispute, the international financial crisis, the intensification of bilateral trade and climate change.
During the talks, Manmohan Singh was assisted by Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma and National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon.
Hu was accompanied by Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and State Councillor Dai Bingguo, also China´s special representative for the boundary dispute with India.
Manmohan Singh formally introduced Menon to the Chinese president as India´s special representative for the boundary talks.
The two sides decided to pursue “a fair and mutually acceptable” solution to the boundary dispute and maintain tranquility along the Line of Actual Control pending the resolution of the dispute.
The two sides are expected to hold the 14th round of boundary talks between their special representatives. Dates will be decided soon, Vishnu Prakash, spokesperson of India´s external affairs ministry, said.
During his talks, Hu recalled Manmohan Singh´s remarks that the world was large enough to accommodate the rising aspirations of India and China and stressed that China fully subscribed to that view.
“Both sides agreed that they were not competitors, but partners,” said Prakash.
Admitting that there were areas of divergences on many issues like the Chinese practice of issuing stapled visas to people of Jammu and Kashmir, Prakash said the two leaders concentrated on taking the positive agenda forward and described trade as the pillar of the India-China relationship.
In view of $15.8 billion trade imbalance favouring China, the two leaders agreed to pursue more balanced trade and agreed to facilitate greater market access to each other´s products. Both sides also expressed optimism about achieving the target of $60 billion by 2010.