INDIA: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao meets Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as the two leaders aim to soothe tensions and boost trade and political ties
Record ID:
1372145
INDIA: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao meets Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as the two leaders aim to soothe tensions and boost trade and political ties
- Title: INDIA: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao meets Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as the two leaders aim to soothe tensions and boost trade and political ties
- Date: 17th December 2010
- Summary: NEW DELHI, INDIA (DECEMBER 16, 2010) (ANI-NO ACCESS BBC) EXTERIOR OF HYDERABAD HOUSE, VENUE OF THE MEETING BETWEEN CHINESE PREMIER WEN JIABAO AND INDIAN PRIME MINISTER MANMOHAN SINGH SINGH AND WEN ARRIVING CHINESE CAMERAMAN FILMING SINGH AND WEN SHAKING HANDS HANDS WEN SMILING SINGH MEDIA INDIAN AND CHINESE DELEGATES SITTING FOR BILATERAL TALKS SINGH SITTING WITH FEDERAL FINANCE MINISTER PRANAB MUKHERJEE WEN SEATED WITH CHINESE DELEGATES INDIAN AND CHINESE DELEGATES SITTING
- Embargoed: 1st January 2011 14:48
- Keywords:
- Location: India, India
- Country: India
- Topics: International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVA7Y8BZBQHUHHBCAJLI97Q2OE2A
- Aspect Ratio: 4:3
- Story Text: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao continued his India on Thursday (December 16), vowing "friendship and cooperation" a day after striking business deals with his hosts worth more than $16 billion.
Relations between the Asian giants are tense, despite the booming trade relationship between them. Nearly 40 years after they fought a war, there are still rifts over disputed borders, and suspicion in New Delhi over China's regional ambitions and its close ties with arch-rival, Pakistan.
But both Wen and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh exchanged vows of amity and goodwill as they started talks in New Delhi.
Wen's visit, the first by a Chinese premier to India in five years, has looked carefully choreographed to improve ties between two countries which, between them, are home to more than a third of the world's population.
Arriving with more than 300 business leaders on Wednesday (December 15), Wen said that India and China were not rivals and there was room in the world for both powers to develop.
India and China are the world's fastest-growing major economies. India fears China wants to curtail its rise as a global power, and is also unhappy about Wen's plans to travel to nuclear-armed rival and neighbour Pakistan on Friday (December 17).
India and Pakistan have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947 and New Delhi broke off peace talks after Pakistani militants attacked landmarks in Mumbai in 2008, killing 166 people.
India also fears China wants to restrict its global reach by possibly opposing its bid for a permanent U.N. Security Council seat or encircling the Indian Ocean region with massive projects from Pakistan to Myanmar.
Long wary of Washington's influence in South Asia, Beijing's overtures toward New Delhi come just a little over a month after U.S. President Barack Obama's trip to India, during which he endorsed India's long-held demand for a permanent seat.
Wen's avuncular style contrasts sharply with that of Singh, who is seen as shy and lacking charisma. Singh is also engulfed in what may be India's biggest corruption scandal, threatening the stability of the Congress party-led coalition government.
Although both India and China have said they are exploring a possible free-trade agreement, no real progress is expected on that front as there is some scepticism in New Delhi that Beijing may only want to dump cheap manufactured goods on India's booming $1.3 trillion economy.
China is now India's largest trade partner and two-way trade reached $60 billion this year, up from $13.6 billion in 2004.
Still, total investment by China in India is small, amounting to only $221 million in 2009, representing about 0.1 percent of China's total outward foreign direct investment in that year. That figure is seven times less than what China has invested in Pakistan, according to official data.
While the two are often lumped together as emerging world powers, China's GDP is four times bigger than India's and its infrastructure outshines India's dilapidated roads and ports, a factor that makes New Delhi wary of Beijing's growing might. - Copyright Holder: ANI (India)
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