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India, China to raise ties to higher level: Fernandes
Singapore, June 01: India and China are moving to raise trade and defence ties to a higher level, Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes said today.
Singapore, June 01: India and China are moving to raise trade and defence ties to a higher level, Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes said today.
The two Asian giants share similar problems and are at
about the same level of economic development, he said.
"There are efforts made on both sides to see that our relations ... are raised to a higher level," he told reporters at the end of an Asia Pacific conference of defence ministers here.
In the past four to five years, two-way trade has expanded to reach five billion dollars, he said, growing from just a few hundred million dollars in the 1990s.
Both countries are also expanding an exchange program involving military officers to be posted for training in each other's institutions in order to increase the level of confidence-building, he said.
Asked about the future of India-China defence ties, he said: "we would like to build a very close relationship but that will take time."
Fernandes visited China in April in the first trip by an Indian defence minister since 1992.
India and China fought a brief but bitter border war in 1962 and have since shared an uneasy relationship of mutual distrust. The two countries are trying to resolve territorial disputes.
Ties began warming when then Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji visited India in January last year.
Fernandes caused a diplomatic storm in 1998 when he suggested that China, not arch-rival Pakistan, was the cause of concern that led India to develop nuclear weapons.
Bureau Report
"There are efforts made on both sides to see that our relations ... are raised to a higher level," he told reporters at the end of an Asia Pacific conference of defence ministers here.
In the past four to five years, two-way trade has expanded to reach five billion dollars, he said, growing from just a few hundred million dollars in the 1990s.
Both countries are also expanding an exchange program involving military officers to be posted for training in each other's institutions in order to increase the level of confidence-building, he said.
Asked about the future of India-China defence ties, he said: "we would like to build a very close relationship but that will take time."
Fernandes visited China in April in the first trip by an Indian defence minister since 1992.
India and China fought a brief but bitter border war in 1962 and have since shared an uneasy relationship of mutual distrust. The two countries are trying to resolve territorial disputes.
Ties began warming when then Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji visited India in January last year.
Fernandes caused a diplomatic storm in 1998 when he suggested that China, not arch-rival Pakistan, was the cause of concern that led India to develop nuclear weapons.
Bureau Report