ISSN: 1391 - 0531
Sunday June 08, 2008
Vol. 42 - No 54
News  

India, China pledge stronger ties amidst simmering tensions

By Christopher Bodeen

BEIJING, Saturday (AP) - India and China pledged on Friday to keep their border peaceful but offered no new approaches to resolving their festering territorial disputes.

In a speech to Chinese students at the elite Peking University, visiting Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the two countries were "mature enough" to deal with unresolved problems."Our boundary is peaceful and we are determined to keep it so," China's official Xinhua News agency quoted Mukherjee as saying. "While we may have our differences, we will not let them become obstacles to the broadening and deepening of our relationship."

China's Foreign Ministry barred an Associated Press reporter from attending the speech, but did not say why. India-China relations have recently entered a sensitive period due to sharpening economic rivalries, lingering arguments about the border and unrest in Tibet, the Chinese-controlled Himalayan region on the Indian border.

India is home to the government-in-exile of Tibetans' spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. Beijing accuses him of orchestrating the sometimes-deadly rioting that broke out in Tibetan areas of China earlier this year. The Dalai Lama denies the accusations.

In a meeting later on Friday, Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping said China would "work with India to promote the bilateral strategic partnership of cooperation and contribute to long-lasting peace and prosperity in the world," Xinhua reported.

Indian diplomats said the two sides agreed to exchange data on seasonal water flows in cross-border rivers including the Brahmaputra, one of Asia's largest rivers. It originates in Tibet, where it is known as the Yarlung Zangbo.

China and India fought a brief but bloody border war in 1962 and remain in dispute over ownership of large chunks of mountainous territory.

 
Top to the page  |  E-mail  |  views[1]


Reproduction of articles permitted when used without any alterations to contents and a link to the source page.
© Copyright 2008 | Wijeya Newspapers Ltd.Colombo. Sri Lanka. All Rights Reserved.