Beijing, Nov 15: China's official media today lauded the successful conclusion of the first-ever India-China joint naval exercise with the comment that the two Asian giants have opened a new chapter in their chequered relations. "Friday's exercise opened a new chapter in relations between China and India. The two countries have their differences, but with more exchanges taking place, both Asian giants are moving closer towards a partnership," a state-run English television channel reported.
The guided missile destroyer INS Ranjit, the guided missile corvette INS Kulish and the replenishment tanker INS Jyoti concluded a friendly port call at the Shanghai port yesterday before embarking on the first joint naval exercise in the East China Sea.
This was the fourth time that Indian warships called on Shanghai.
The Chinese television noted that increasing trade has also brought the two countries together for the sake of regional stability and development.
"This joint naval exercise has helped reduce the distrust between the two sides although there is still the issue of border disputes to be resolved," a report said while showing clippings of the India-China border 1962 border war.
"Bilateral relations between the world's two most populous countries have had their fair share of ups and downs over the years. Even though China and India have taken one step closer to forging friendly ties by launching a joint military exercise, the building of a seasoned trust between Asia's two neighbouring giants may still take some time," the official television channel commented.
Interestingly, the report also prominently showed Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Defence Minister George Fernandes and positively appraised their role in normalising India-China relations in the aftermath of the 1998 nuclear tests.
Before winding up their visit yesterday, the Indian fleet joined the Chinese Navy to conduct a search and rescue exercise off the coast of Shanghai, China's commercial hub.
This was the first ever Sino-Indian joint naval exercise in the field of non-conventional security, China's official news agency noted.
Bureau Report