By IANS
Beijing : China and India declared Monday that it was time the two Asian giants built “a relationship of friendship and trust” and became “sensitive to the concerns and aspirations” of one another.
A joint statement issued by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao also said their countries were “firmly committed to resolving outstanding differences, including on the boundary question, through peaceful negotiations”.
“The two sides are convinced that it is time to look to the future in building a relationship of friendship and trust, based on equality, in which each is sensitive to the concerns and aspirations of the other.
“The two sides reiterate that India-China friendship and common development will have a positive influence on the future of the international system. India-China relations are not targeted at any country, nor will it affect their friendship with other countries,” the statement said.
The two leaders pledged to resolve their lingering boundary dispute that sparked a war between the two countries in 1962.
“The two sides remain firmly committed to resolving outstanding differences, including on the boundary question, through peaceful negotiations, while ensuring that such differences are not allowed to affect the positive development of bilateral relations.
“The two sides reiterate their determination to seek a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to the boundary question and to build a boundary of peace and friendship,” the five-page statement said.
The special representatives of the two countries, it said, shall complete at an early date the task of arriving at an agreed framework on the basis of the 2006 Agreement on Political Parameters and Guiding Principles for the Settlement of the Sino-Indian boundary question.
The statement said the two sides respected each other’s path of social, economic and political development “in which fundamental human rights and the rule of law are given their due place”.
They also called for a comprehensive reform of the UN, with New Delhi reiterating its aspiration for a permanent membership of the Security Council and Beijing stating that it “understands and supports India’s aspirations to play a greater role in the UN, including in the Security Council”.
The two countries welcomed “the positive facets of economic globalisation” and called for the establishment of “an international energy order that is fair, equitable, secure and stable.
“The two sides express their categorical opposition to the weaponisation and arms race in outer space.”