NEW DELHI/BEIJING, 22 June 2003 — Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s six-day China visit, beginning today, is viewed as a major move toward establishment of sound bilateral ties.
Expressing optimism a day before the visit, Vajpayee said in an interview to China’s official Xinhua news Agency: “With a commitment to the five principles of peaceful co-existence and with mutual sensitivity to the concern for each other, the two countries can construct an enduring and powerful partnership.”
Vajpayee said he hoped his visit to China will build trust between the former adversaries while promoting trade and investment.
In another interview with China Central Television broadcast yesterday, Vajpayee said economic ties would be a major theme of the trip, the first by an Indian prime minister in a decade.
Talks with Chinese leaders will “build better understanding and trust between our two peoples, and impart further momentum to our broad-based bilateral cooperation,” Vajpayee told CCTV.
“We have successfully developed mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation, while simultaneously addressing our differences,” he said.
The six-day visit comes amid efforts to build peaceful relations by toning down rivalries and disputes between the wary, nuclear-armed Asian giants, which fought a war in 1962 and still claim portions of each other’s territory.
Trade rose to $5 billion last year and Vajpayee said the sides should look for more opportunities to cooperate in high technology, where China excels in manufacturing and India in software design.
“I will discuss with the Chinese leadership proactive measures to identify and exploit new opportunities for economic and technological cooperation,” Vajpayee said.
The transcript did not touch on any specific disputes between the sides, although China is a key ally and a major weapons supplier to Pakistan, India’s adversary in three wars since 1947.
— Additional input from Agencies
