By IANS
New Delhi : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh favours an early end to the decades old Sino-Indian border dispute as part of “a historical necessity” to give a greater push to steadily improving ties between the two Asian giants.
On the eve of his maiden visit to Beijing, Manmohan Singh told Xinhua News Agency that he hoped to have “free and frank discussions” in China on issues of common interest “with a view to shaping a relationship that benefits our two countries and our future generations”.
India-China relations, he added, “have today transcended their bilateral dimension and have acquired global and strategic significance”.
Asked about the border dispute that sparked a war between India and China in 1962, the prime minister said that India was “committed to resolving outstanding differences, including on the boundary question, through peaceful means and in a fair, reasonable, mutually acceptable and pro-active manner while ensuring that such differences are not allowed to affect the positive development of bilateral relations.
“An early settlement of the boundary question will advance the basic interests of the two countries and should, therefore, be pursued as a strategic objective.”
Manmohan Singh said he considered it “a great honour” to visit China, which he described as a country “in the midst of a transformation with far reaching consequences… My visit is part of the recent happy tradition of high-level exchanges between our two countries.
“I will seek to build upon and impart greater momentum to these relations. This is today a historical necessity.”
Although this will be Manmohan Singh’s first visit to China since he took power in 2004, he said he had briefly visited Shanghai in 1997 to attend a conference.
“I was struck by the sheer speed of reconstruction and development taking place in the city and the manner in which it was being transformed. I was deeply impressed by the Chinese work ethic and their pragmatic approach to dealing with problems.
“This time I am looking forward to interacting with Chinese leaders to discuss various matters of mutual interest. We want to learn from China’s experiences of modernisation and share our own experiences.”
Stating that the full potential of the many economic and technological complementarities between India and China were yet to be tapped, Singh said: “We have learn to look at each other with a sense of purpose.”
During his visit, the prime minister said, he would seek to further promote bilateral ties in science and technology, cooperation between cultural institutions, and deepen ties in areas ranging from geosciences, land resources management, railways, housing as well as traditional systems of medicine.
“I will also be exchanging views on regional and multilateral issues including UN reforms, regional dialogue mechanisms like cooperation in the East Asia Summit and global issues such as combating climate change, energy security, international trade and counter-terrorism…
“There is a growing feeling in the world that rapid economic development of India and China is an international public good, which benefits Asia and the world economy as a whole. Our two countries have to intensify cooperation in diverse areas to sustain the momentum of rapid economic development.”