Chinese proposal to promote India ties

NEW DELHI - China-India relations could be promoted with the help of "Five Cs" - communication, cooperation, contacts, coordination and control, Chinese Ambassador Luo Zhaohui said on Monday.

Speaking at a seminar - "Beyond Wuhan: How Far and Fast Can China India Relations Go", the Chinese diplomat said both sides need to strengthen exchanges between senior officials of the government, military and legislature, and give full play to the existing mechanisms to enhance strategic communication and increase mutual understanding.

The seminar was organized to discuss the present scenario of Sino-Indian ties in the aftermath of an informal meeting between President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in central China's Wuhan in late April, followed by their meeting on the sidelines of the SCO Summit in China's eastern port city of Qingdao earlier this month.

The Chinese ambassador underlined the fact that the two leaders have had one-on-one meetings on different occasions during the past four years.

On the trade front, he said that China would like to negotiate a "regional trade arrangement" with India to expand relations. "We may encourage economic cooperation on major projects such as new industrial parks and high-speed railway," he said.

Proposing better people-to-people contacts between the two countries, he said: "We should give full play to the high-level people-to-people and cultural exchange mechanism to enhance exchanges in the fields of movie, sports, tourism, museums and youth."

Advocating coordination on international and regional issues, Luo said both countries needed to enhance cooperation in platforms like SCO (the Shanghai Cooperation Organization), BRICS, G20 and join hands to tackle challenges to forge global economic integration, free trade and multilateralism.

Suggesting control and management of bilateral differences, the ambassador said the two countries as neighbors could not wish away differences. "We need to narrow differences through expanding cooperation."

The seminar was also addressed by a number of former diplomats, academics, educationalists, scholars, journalists and business leaders from both countries.

Amitabh Kant, CEO of the think tank National Institution for Transforming India, said that it was high time that India and China not only worked together to address bilateral challenges but strive to find solutions to the problems faced by the world as a whole.

The seminar was jointly organized by the Chinese embassy in India with the Delhi-based Institute of Chinese Studies and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

Xinhua