The Hindu : India, China agree to sustain bilateral cooperation

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Apr 22, 2003

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India, China agree to sustain bilateral cooperation

By P.S. Suryanarayana

PTI

The Defence Minister, George Fernandes, takes the salute along with his Chinese counterpart, Cao Gangchuan, at the headquarters of China's Central Military Commission in Beijing on Monday

SINGAPORE APRIL 21. China and India today agreed to sustain the ongoing bilateral process of clarifying the Line of Actual Control. The two countries reaffirmed their commitment to formulate additional confidence-building measures with a military focus and expressed their determination to enhance bilateral cooperation to combat terrorism.

An attempt to impart such strategic dynamism was made during the talks that the Defence Minister, George Fernandes, held with the new Chinese leadership in Beijing today. He called on the Chinese Prime Minister, Wen Jiabao, and held talks with the Defence Minister, Cao Gangchuan. A senior military officer, Guo Boxiong, Vice-Chairman of the Chinese Central Military Commission, also met Mr. Fernandes.

The "forward-looking and positive talks'' took place in a "constructive atmosphere'', according to official sources in Beijing. The Chinese side struck a definitive note of upbeat sentiments and underlined how the military forces of the two countries had "enhanced mutual trust and understanding'' and "maintained stability in the border area''.

The 1993 and 1996 Sino-Indian agreements in this connection were recalled with approval. The Chinese Defence Minister told Mr. Fernandes that Beijing "is willing to work with India for regional peace and stability''.

Mr. Wen said he was looking forward to hosting his Indian counterpart, Atal Behari Vajpayee, later in the year and mentioned, in particular, that both China and India faced similar challenges of economic development.

Today's dialogue was almost entirely free of the gravitational pull of the so-called Pakistan factor in the strategic equivalence between China and India, according to informed sources. This feat of looking beyond the Islamabad angle can be considered significant in a context in which ``Pakistan is China's Israel'', as summed up by Alastair Iain Johnston, a U.S. Sinologist, in Singapore today.

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