PM’s Statement to the Press in Beijing

January 14, 2008

Beijing, China

“It is a pleasure and honour for me to be in Beijing. I have always looked forward to my meetings with Premier Wen, and to benefit from his great wisdom knowledge and experience. I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to the Government and people of China and Premier Wen Jiabao, for the courtesy and warmth of their hospitality.

Our talks were held in an atmosphere of sincerity, warmth and friendship. They were constructive and forward looking. This gives me cause for optimism for the future of our ties.

India-China relations are of regional and global significance. The profound changes taking place in the world today present both our countries with a historic opportunity to work together towards a 21st century that is conducive to peace and development.

The Shared Vision of the 21st Century that Premier Wen and I have just signed is an important milestone in the evolution of our relations. It reflects not only our common perceptions but also our desire to purposefully cooperate in the future.

We have agreed to continue deepening the mutual understanding and trust between our armed forces. We welcomed the successful conclusion off our first joint military training exercise, and agreed to have a second exercise in India this year.

We recognized that our strategic and cooperative partnership should be based on strong, diversified and mutually beneficial economic ties. We have decided to increase our bilateral trade target from 40 billion US dollars by the year 2010 to 60 billion US dollars.

We have mandated our Ministers of commerce to examine the Feasibility Study on the Benefits of a Regional Trading Arrangement and make suitable recommendations at an early date.

We have decided to establish a high level Business Leaders Forum to advise us on the future of our economic ties.

We had useful discussions on the outstanding issue of the Boundary Question. We welcomed the progress made by our Special Representatives in seeking a framework for settlement of the boundary question that is fair, reasonable, mutually acceptable, and based on the Agreement on Guiding Principles and Political Parameters signed in April 2005.

While the Special Representatives continue their efforts, both sides reiterated their mutual commitment to maintaining peace and tranquility in the border areas.

I Conveyed India’s appreciation for China’s assistance in providing flood season date for some of our trans-borders rivers Premier Wen and I agreed that we will continue to expand our cooperation in this area through the Expert level Mechanism.

Science & Technology is another priority area and we have identified earthquake engineering, disaster management, climate change, biotechnology and nano sciences as areas for further cooperation.

We have decided to intensify high-level exchanges between our two countries. I have invited Premier Wen to visit India at his earliest convenience.”

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