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Tuesday, Nov 10, 2009
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No question of conflict with China: Pranab

Hasan Suroor

LONDON: Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday rejected fears of a “conflict” with China saying that though there were “differences of views” on the border issue the two countries had “institutional” mechanisms in place to ensure that these were resolved peacefully.

“I don’t visualise a conflict with China,” he said firmly, pointing out that both countries were determined to maintain “peace and tranquillity” along the border.

Speaking to journalists after a conference of G20 Finance Ministers, Mr. Mukherjee said in reply to a question that he did not have a separate meeting with the Chinese Finance Minister because it was not an occasion for bilateral discussions. But he stressed that trade ties with China were growing and would be strengthened further.

Mr. Mukherjee said India was opposed to attempts to impose a uniform one-size-fits-all global time-table for withdrawal of fiscal stimuli introduced to combat recession.

“It is not possible to set a time-table for an exit strategy. Leave it to the countries concerned though there can be a broad agreement on coordination. But coordination should not mean synchronisation,” he said adding that the approach should be “country-specific, not date-specific.”

Mr. Mukherjee ruled out any further stimulus package for the Indian economy.

Answering questions on funding for climate change, on which the G20 Finance Ministers failed to reach an agreement, he reiterated India’s position that developed countries would have to contribute substantially to help developing countries switch to a more energy-saving regime.

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