India, China have enough space to prosper globally: President Patil

ON BOARD AIR INDIA ONE - Playing down China’s nuclear help to Pakistan in establishing reactors and underscoring the border disputes, President Pratibha Devisingh Patil said on Wednesday that the Sino-Indian relationship is progressing on a friendly path.

President Patil’s six-day visit to China gains importance in wake of growing irritants in the Sino-Indian relationship like usage of the waters of the Brahmaputra, reported violation of the Indian border by the Chinese Army, and providing nuclear reactors to Pakistan.

Patil is visiting China from May 26-31 and is expected to hold discussions with the Chinese leadership on all controversial issues.

“India and China’s friendship is progressing well. We have a strategic and cooperative partnership. We have also attained pronged strategy for mutual cooperation, and when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited China in 2008, the two countries concluded a “Shared Vision for the 21st Century” which forms the basis for bilateral cooperation on global issues,” she told reporters on board Air India One.

“We are progressing on the friendly path and you must have seen that in the Copenhagen Climate Change summit, on the framework on basics, we operated very well. India and China both have a future together and there is enough space in the world for both the countries to fulfill their aspiration of development so that they can grow and prosper together,” she added.

Commenting on her visit, which coincides with the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and China, President Patil said her visit is part of the process of high-level contacts between the two countries.

She said that India and China are two large and populous countries and both of them are focussed on enhancing economic growth and social progress, so there are many areas in which the two countries can exchange views and learn from each other’s experiences.

She said that as developing nations, India and China have similar approaches and viewpoints on many global issues.

India and China have successfully carried out close cooperation within such international frameworks as G-20, BRIC countries and BASIC countries.

The two countries also coordinated with each other at the UN Copenhagen Climate Change Summit. By Praful Kumar Singh (ANI)