India, China Should Build Constructive Partnership

Chinese Ambassador to India Zhou Gang said on March 25 that India and China should build a future-oriented cooperative and constructive partnership of mutual trust, mutual benefit, good-neighborliness and friendship in the new century.

"It is the need of the times for China and India to establish a cooperative and constructive partnership into the 21st century," said Zhou at a gathering here hosted by the Delhi-based Friends of China Society to mark the upcoming 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Sino-Indian diplomatic relations, which falls on April 1.

The building of such a partnership should be based on the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence, which were jointly initiated by leaders of both countries in the 1950s and have now become the universally acknowledged basic norms guiding state-to-state relations, said the Chinese ambassador.

The prerequisite for China and India in developing their bilateral relations is not to regard each other as a threat, he added.

Zhou suggested that both countries should maintain the momentum of exchanges of visits by their leaders so as to enhance mutual understanding.

"We are looking forward to the state visit to China by H.E. President of India in 2000," he said. "This visit will play an important role in promoting the further development of the bilateral relations."

Both countries should also further expand the mutually- beneficial cooperation in the fields of trade and economy, science and technology and maintain and expand friendly exchanges and cooperation in the fields of culture, education and people-to- people contact, he said, adding that contacts and exchanges between the armed forces of both countries should also be strengthened.

Both sides also need to take a positive attitude toward the signing of agreements on investment protection, the opening of direct flights and other specific steps which will help promote bilateral exchanges and cooperation, he added.

Back to top
Copyright by People's Daily Online, All rights reserved