China, India face golden period to grow bilateral ties
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Xinhua, January 16, 2012
Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo said China and India face a golden period to grow bilateral relations, in a bylined article published on the Indian mainstream daily The Hindu on Monday.
Dai, who is visiting India to attend the 15th meeting between special representatives on China-India border issues, said China-India relations have huge potential and broad space for cooperation.
In the mid 1950s, China and India, in response to the call of the time, jointly initiated the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. Today, these five principles are still shining with strong vitality, Dai said in his article.
Noting the world is undergoing drastic and profound changes, he said China and India, both ancient civilizations and major developing countries whose combined population accounts for nearly two-fifths of the world's total, once again respond to the call of our time.
The two countries have seized the historic opportunity of economic globalization and achieved fast development, he said, noting that they are now the two largest emerging countries in the world and play increasingly important roles in regional and international affairs.
Dai said he was happy to note that since the beginning of the new century, the China-India Strategic and Cooperative Partnership for Peace and Prosperity has continued to grow rapidly and bilateral friendly cooperation has yielded fruitful results.
According to Dai, the bilateral trade volume has grown from 2.9 billion U.S. dollars in 2000 to 61.7 billion U.S. dollars in 2010, an increase of 20 folds in 10 years.
"We speak with one voice and enjoy increasingly closer coordination and collaboration in multilateral mechanisms and in tackling global challenges," he said.
The year 2011 was the "Year of China-India Exchanges". The first bilateral Strategic Economic Dialogue was held and 500 Indian youths visited China.
These diverse exchanges got our relations off to a good start in the second decade of the 21st century, said Dai, noting China-India relations have entered a fast track of growth.
China is full of sentiment of friendship toward India, he said. While working hard to develop itself, China is fully committed to developing long-term friendship and cooperation with India.
"It is our genuine hope that India will enjoy prosperity and its people happiness," said Dai.
There does not exist such a thing as China's attempt to "attack India" or "suppress India's development", he said, adding China will remain committed to the path of peaceful development.
China will grow on the basis of its own efforts, reform and innovation, at the same time, it will remain open to the outside world and learn from other countries, he said.
China will fully embrace economic globalization and seek mutual benefit and common development with other countries, he said.
China will continue to work with the international community to promote the building of a harmonious world of enduring peace and common prosperity, he added.
China's conviction to peaceful development is rooted in the fine Chinese culture and tradition and it came into being in the course of reform and opening-up and is firmly supported by China's state policy and strategy, he said.
Peaceful development is a rational, strategic choice made in line with the trend of our time and China's basic condition, he stressed.
Back in 1988, Mr. Deng Xiaoping said to then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi that no genuine Asia-Pacific century or Asian century would come without the development of China, India and other developing countries.Prime Minister Singh also observed that when India and China speak with one voice, the world will listen, Dai said.
These analyses of insight point to the tremendous importance and necessity for China and India to develop ourselves well and advance the relations between us, for this is crucial not only to our two countries, but also to Asia and the whole world that we both live in, he said.
He said China and India need to guide and promote the growth of bilateral relations with the concept of peaceful development, to view each other's development in a positive light and regard each other as major partners and friends, not rivals, and to be each other's good neighbor, good friend and good partner.
"As a man in his seventies, I truly hope that our children and children's children will forever live in peace, friendship and cooperation," said Dai.
Looking ahead, the world has enough space for China and India to achieve common development, as there are so many areas for the two countries to work together, he said.
He said, as neighbors and two big countries of a combined population of 2.5 billion, China and India can join hands, seize the historic opportunity and work together to further advance our friendship and cooperation.
"Together, we will bring benefits to our two countries, two peoples and the whole mankind," Dai said in the article.
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