NEW DELHI (AP) — The leaders of China and India agreed yesterday to double trade between their two countries to $40 billion by 2010 and to improve a relationship that has been marred by suspicions dating to a 1962 border war and rivalry over their regional roles.
Speaking after a summit in New Delhi, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese President Hu Jintao said the two Asian giants should work together on regional and international issues, but were quick to stress other nations should not see such cooperation as a threat.
“There is enough space for the two countries to develop together in a mutually supportive manner while remaining sensitive to each other’s concerns and aspirations,” Mr. Singh said.
Mr. Hu’s visit was the first by a Chinese president in a decade, and he and Mr. Singh said their countries would intensify efforts to resolve the border disputes that remain from the 1962 Sino-Indian war. Talks already have been going on for nearly 25 years.
“Our two countries need to carry forward our friendship in the long run, work hand in hand for cooperation and common development and work together to promote peace and development in Asia and the world at large,” Mr. Hu said.
Despite the optimistic tone, the summit failed to break any new ground, resulting only in a range of small agreements and the settling of some minor disputes between the two countries, which with nearly 2.4 billion people account for about a third of humanity.
Not dealt with were the big issues that still divide them — the presence of the Dalai Lama and 120,000 Tibetan exiles in India and China’s role as the main weapons supplier to India’s longtime rival, Pakistan. The Dalai Lama wants autonomy for Tibet, which China has occupied since 1951.
Still, Indian officials expressed hope that those issues would be settled with time, noting that both sides had declared a strategic partnership 18 months ago and decided not to be held back by past disputes while working toward the future.
“It would be a huge strategic gain if we could settle” the border dispute, Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shanker Menon told reporters after the summit. “But it’s not holding up the relationship.”
Plans were unveiled to double bilateral trade to $40 billion by 2010. Two decades ago, it was next to nothing.
The two sides also agreed to increase civilian nuclear cooperation, but made no firm commitments on the mechanics of such an arrangement. The deal appeared to be more of a statement of intent than an actual nuclear pact, such as the one New Delhi has reached with Washington.
Complicating any effort to further improve India-China relations are Beijing’s long-standing ties with Pakistan and New Delhi’s embrace of the United States.
Mr. Hu leaves India tomorrow for Pakistan, where he plans to sign agreements on trade, culture and education.
No mention was made of Tibet at the summit and yesterday police fanned out across New Delhi to protect Mr. Hu and to prevent protesters from embarrassing him. A day earlier, more than 1,000 Tibetans, led by Buddhist monks in maroon and yellow robes, marched in New Delhi.
After the meeting the two sides signed a series of 13 agreements on economic, trade, finance, information, energy, science, technology, agriculture and education ties.
They also agreed to have China open a consulate in the east Indian city of Calcutta, with India reciprocating in Guangzhou.
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