On April 13, 2011, Chinese President Hu Jintao met Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Sanya City of south China's Hainan Province on the sidelines of BRICS Leaders Meeting. The two leaders agreed to further deepen China-India strategic cooperation so as to push forward the development of the two countries. They also vowed to promote peace, stability and prosperity in Asia as well as the world.
President Hu said China and India, as important neighbors to each other, are both emerging economies. Relations between the two countries have maintained healthy and stable development momentum since April 2010, Hu said. Both sides have successfully held a series of events marking the 60th anniversary of China-India diplomatic ties. The president said exchanges and cooperation in various arenas between the two countries have been deepening continuously and the two sides have maintained close communication and coordination on global issues of great significance. The global and strategic significance of China-India relations is highlighted as the international situation is going through profound changes, Hu said, adding that bilateral relations between the two countries have a broad prospect.
China and India designated the year of 2011 as the "Year of China-India Exchange". Hu said the two sides should take this opportunity to broaden communication and cooperation in various fields and to elevate the bilateral ties to a new height. Firstly, the two countries should maintain high-level exchanges and to enhance political mutual trust, Hu said. China and India should expand exchanges between the governments, legislative bodies and political parties of the two countries. The two sides should take the advantage of political dialogue and consultation to enhance strategic communication and exchange views in a timely manner on bilateral ties and other important issues of common concern, Hu said. Secondly, Hu suggested the two sides expand economic and trade cooperation for mutual benefit. China and India should hold the first meeting under the strategic and economic dialogue mechanism as soon as possible, Hu said. The two sides should actively push forward bilateral trade and promote cooperation in fields such as infrastructure, information technology, investment, project contracting and banking sector to achieve mutual complementarities of advantages and win-win results. Thirdly, Hu suggested the two sides broaden people-to-people exchanges so as to enhance mutual understanding. China and India announced the official start of the "Year of China-India Exchange" on April 13. China will invite 500 Indian young people from all walks of life to visit China, Hu said, adding that China is also willing to provide support to Indian middle and high schools in teaching Chinese. Both sides should well hold economic, trade and cultural serial events of "Year of China-India Exchange" to push forward friendly exchanges between both peoples. Fourthly, Hu said he hoped the two countries solve differences properly and safeguard peace and stability. Hu said China is willing to further push forward negotiations on border issues on the basis of peace and friendliness, equal consultation, mutual respect and understanding in a bid to seek a fair and reasonable solution acceptable to both sides. The two sides should consider setting up a consultation and coordination mechanism on border issues so as to achieve consensus as soon as possible and to better maintain peace and stability at the border regions before the issues are solved.
Singh said he was glad to attend the BRICS Leaders Meeting in China and totally agreed with Hu's four-point proposals on developing the relations between the two countries. India is ready to work with China to earnestly implement these proposals. He said during President Hu's visit to India in 2006, both sides worked out the ten strategies of deepening China-India cooperation, which played an important role in promoting strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries. Since last year, the leaders of the two countries have made contact frequently, exchanging in-depth views within the G20 framework and on other occasions on deepening strategic cooperative partnership as well as major issues of common concern. Singh said economic and trade cooperation is the cornerstone for the two countries' strategic cooperation. Currently bilateral trade has been growing rapidly. He said India welcomes and encourages Chinese enterprises to invest in the country, especially in the area of infrastructure. The Indian prime minister said India hopes to promote people-to-people and cultural exchanges between the two countries, ensure the success of "Year of China-India Exchange" and build up youth contacts and mutual understanding. He also said that India is willing to join hands with China to find a mutually acceptable solution to border issues. He urged both sides to jointly maintain peace and stability at the border regions before the issues are solved, adding India is ready to set up a consultation and coordination mechanism on border issues.
President Hu said China and India share wide-ranging common interests in international and regional affairs. China would like to join hands with India in strengthening coordination and cooperation within the United Nations, the Group of 20 as well as within the BRICS mechanism, Hu said. Hu said he hoped China and India could help each other in participating in regional cooperation and safeguarding mutual interests by jointly coping with issues like climate change, food and energy security. It is conducive to peace and development of Asia and the world at large for China and India to enhance communication and deepen cooperation on major issues.
Singh said the India-China relations are of great significance and go beyond bilateral scope. The relations have strong bearing on international and regional peace and stability. India would intensify coordination with China on major international and regional issues as well as in dealing with global challenges in a bid to safeguard interests of the two countries as well as other developing nations, Singh said.
The two leaders also exchanged views on issues of common concern such as the situation in West Asia and North Africa.
Ling Jihua, Wang Huning and Dai Bingguo attended the meeting.
