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Statement by the Prime Minister of India His Excellency Dr. Manmohan
Singh to the Press during his visit to China
(Beijing; January 14, 2008)
Thank you for your kind
words.
It is a pleasure and honour for me to be in Beijing. I have always
looked forward to my meetings with Premier Wen, and to benefit from his
great wisdom and experience. I would like to express my heartfelt thanks
to the Government and people of China for the courtesy and warmth of
their hospitality.
Our talks were held in an atmosphere of sincerity, warmth and
friendship. They were constructive and forward looking. This gives me
cause for optimism for the future of our ties.
India-China relations are of regional and global significance. The
profound changes taking place in the world today present both our
countries with a historic opportunity to work together towards a 21st
century that is conducive to peace and development.
The Shared Vision of the 21st Century that Premier Wen and I have just
signed is an important milestone in the evolution of our relations. It
reflects not only our common perceptions but also our desire to
purposefully cooperate in the future.
We have agreed to continue deepening the mutual understanding and trust
between our armed forces. We welcomed the successful conclusion of our
first joint military training exercise, and agreed to hold a second
exercise in India this year.
We recognized that our strategic and cooperative partnership should be
based on strong, diversified and mutually beneficial economic ties. We
have decided to increase our bilateral trade target from 40 billion US
dollars by the year 2010 to 60 billion US dollars.
We have mandated our Ministers of Commerce to examine the Feasibility
Study on the benefits of a Regional Trading Arrangement and make
recommendations at an early date.
We have decided to establish a high level Business Leaders Forum to
advise us on the future of our economic ties.
We had useful discussions
on the outstanding issue of the Boundary Question. We welcomed the
progress made by our Special Representatives in seeking a framework for
settlement of the boundary question that is fair, reasonable, mutually
acceptable, and based on the Agreement on Guiding Principles and
Political Parameters signed in April 2005.
While the Special Representatives continue their efforts, both sides
reiterated their mutual commitment to maintaining peace and tranquility
in the border areas.
I conveyed India’s appreciation for China’s assistance in providing
flood season data for some of our trans-border rivers. Premier Wen and I
agreed that we will continue to expand our cooperation in this area
through the Expert Level Mechanism.
Science & Technology is another priority area and we have identified
earthquake engineering, disaster management, climate change,
biotechnology and nano sciences as areas for further cooperation.
We have decided to intensify high-level exchanges between our two
countries. I have invited Premier Wen to visit India at his convenience.
Thank you. |
