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India, China should join hands at WTO reforms- EAM
May 8, 2013, 10:37 am

[Xinhua]

Salman Khurshid has been invited to China by his Chinese counterpart, foreign minister Wang Yi [Xinhua]

Salman Khurshid, India’s minister of external affairs, has expressed high optimism over the future of India-China relations on the eve of his visit to Beijing.

“As our prime minister (Manmohan Singh) says, the world is large enough for India and China to work and develop together comfortably,” he said, adding that maintaining good relations between the two countries is important not only for India and China, but also for Asia and the world.

Khurshid stressed on China and India to step up cooperation in the BRICS bloc, World Trade Organisation (WTO) and in pushing for international institutional reform.

“We need to give substance to people to believe that the 21st century will be an Asian century,” he added.

Speaking to Chinese media in Delhi, Khurshid said, “Bilateral relations are in the right court.”

Khurshid has been invited to China by his Chinese counterpart, foreign minister Wang Yi.

Exchange of visits by top level leaders of the two countries will open a new chapter in Sino-Indian ties, he said.

Manmohan Singh, India’s prime minister noted last week that in 2012 China, India together accounted for 45 per cent of world growth in purchasing power parity.

Khurshid said India is not only satisfied with but will reciprocate the friendly signals sent by Chinese leaders earlier this year.

The minister praised the “good and sound” foundation laid by the leaders of the two countries in the past 10 years.

The foreign minister said he is very “comfortable” with the way both sides handled the recent incident at the border.

“The incident was handled at proportional, limited and localized level. This fundamental understanding was developed over the past several years,” he said in reference to the standoff between the troops of the two countries for nearly three weeks since late last month.

He said both India and China are ancient Asian civilizations and should accommodate each other’s fundamental interests over issues like border disputes with patience.

Khurshid also pushed for Chinese investment in India and in cutting the trade imbalance.

“If Chinese companies make huge investment in India and employ thousands of India, it would greatly promote diplomatic ties as well as the people-to-people contacts are very important,” he said.

With inputs from Xinhua