Posted on 04/12/2005 6:03:54 AM PDT by The Incredible One
Reviving the five-decades old slogan 'Hindi Chini, Bhai Bhai', Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao on Tuesday asserted that the two countries are not rivals or competitors but friendly neighbours out to improve their relations through cooperation.
Noting that India and China are the largest developing countries, he talked about Panchsheel and emphasised that the two countries should work together to make the 21st century that of Asia.
Complete Coverage: Wen Jiabao in India
"Some see India and China as competitors...I disagree," Wen said interacting with the students of the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi before winding up his four-day visit to the country.
He concluded the address by raising that famous 1950s slogan clouded by the 1962 war -- 'Hindi Chini, Bhai Bhai'.
The Chinese leader underlined that his country wished to see India "prosperous and developed. Also prosperous and developed China is in India's interest."
Charming the young audience while hailing India's progress in recent years, he elaborately quoted Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Rabindranath Tagore, Amartya Sen and Deng Xiaoping and referred to Chinese traveller Huan Tsang's historic visit to India to lay emphasis on the historic friendly ties between the two neighbours which needed to be given a lift.
Wen said India and China should "close ranks" on international issues and enhance communication and coordination to work together to promote establishment of a just international economic and political order.
The Chinese premier said the trade relations between the two countries were not commensurate with their potential.
He said India is strong in a number of sectors like farm products, auto-parts and pharmaceuticals which will be highly competitive in China where a strong demand existed for India's service sector also.
Similarly, China is strong in areas like electronic goods and could find a market in India, he said.
Noting that India and China had registered a remarkable success by moving from poverty to prosperity in the last 50 years, Wen said it was "critically important" for the two countries to keep their relations on track for development of both the nations besides peace and development in Asia and the world at large.
He stressed the need for developing relations from specific issues to comprehensive relations and expressed confidence that all problems can be resolved through "peaceful development".
Referring to the five principles of peaceful co-existence outlined in 'Panchsheel' in 1954, he said it had left an indelible impression on peace and security in Asia.
He said he respected democracy and good neighbourly ties as well as dignity for his motherland. "China respects those who respect others," he said.
This relation all depends on the unrest of Kashmir territory. As long as this is not solved and China continues to claim Kashmir as their territory, I don't think this enhancing relationship will last.
what do you mean? china occupies a small part of kashmir which is uninhabited and totally icy. i believe the chinese are considering returning this territory to india. the chinese are not a player in kashmir it is india vs pakistan.
Historically the Indians see the Chinese as being just another bunch of Mongol invaders. The Chinese think of the Indians as being little more than unwashed hairy barbarians.
This "prejudice" stands in the way of any realistic, long-term peaceful relationship.
If you hear Indian and/or Chinese politicians telling you otherwise they are telling lies!
BTW, both countries are busy building and/or acquiring aircraft carriers and submarines to counter the other.
The Indians want to keep their eastern border peaceful and leave the Chinese and the Americans to slug it out. Why would India want a war with China when it can trade with it and improve its border areas
This is too simplistic a theory. With increased travel you will find that Chinese and Indians will understand each other better. The older Chinese do regard the Indians as cowardly but the younger chinese generation has a different mindset.
Were you aware that the traditional Chinese demon images all vaguely resemble Indians, as do the traditional Indian demon images resemble Chinese, albeit with large eyeballs and beards.
This problem is not going away simply to take advantage of improved trade relations.
All that is required for peaceful cooperation between India and China is for China to relinquish its control of Tibet.
are you kidding me..there are many indian-chinese (immigrant) couples in campuses here!! urban china and urban india dont care much about race or religion!!
yeah right...india cant do shit about tibet. they have already recognised the Tibetan Autonomus Region (what a name) as part of China. besides in a couple of decades tibet is going to be full of han chinese anyways
Still, we have many Chinese and many Indians.
"Come into my parlor said the spider to the fly..."
Considering how the Japanese and Chinese are so convinced of their own racial superiority, this is humorous indeed.
you should take a trip to urban china or urban india. the new generation doesnt care!! anyways enough said on this topic.
lol..what an analogy..
The world has changed a lot since Kipling!! The Chinese and the Indians realise that a few thousand sq.mtrs dont count as much as a few billion dollars. And as I said India doesnt have many border issues in the Aksai Chin region. This is a thankless icy region. They do have mountian divisions which are ostensibly against the Chinese but can be moved to the eastern border with Pakistan or refitted into a plains division. I believe there were some skirmishes in the Aranchal Pradesh region but not in Aksai Chin. Besides the Chinese leadership do not take India too seriously as a threat. In the minds of the older chinese - Indians are meek and India is a pacifist nation that can always be tamed with a fierce stare. The newer generation of Chinese feel that a fierce stare and a business handshake makes better sense.
What????? This is news to me. A contest between Russia and Britian over Kashmir? I thought they fought over Afghanistan not Kashmir.
The Aksai Chin region is a god forsaken place and has no strategic value if you discount highway 209 which connects Tibet to Xinjiang. There is more ego involved here than tactics.
Of greater importance is the Arunachal Pradesh region.
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