india china talk, india-china agreement, india china pacts

New Delhi, May 20: China's new premier visited India on Sunday on his first foreign trip as the neighboring giants look to speed up efforts to settle a decades-old boundary dispute and boost economic ties. India and China have today signed eight agreements.Explaining the wide array of discussions,Li said China wanted to increase cooperation with India, saying his choice of destination for his first foreign visit showed the importance that Beijing attached to ties with Delhi.

"The purpose of my current visit to India is three-fold — to increase mutual trust, to intensify cooperation and to face the future," Li said.

"On the basis of deeper mutual trust, our two countries can further deepen our mutual understanding and construct a new type of relations between major countries, promote healthy and sound development of China and India.

"That will be a true blessing for Asia and the world." Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said, "We had wide ranging and candid discussions on various issues of mutual interest." The basis for expansion of our ties is peace and tranquility on our borders, while seeking an early resolution of the boundary question, said Singh. On the Chinese incursion he said, "We took stock of lessons learnt from the recent incident in the western sector." Premier Li and I agreed that this (basis) must continue to be preserved: he further said. On maintaining peace with China he said that, "We tasked our Special Representatives to consider further measures that may be needed to maintain peace and tranquility along the border." On the negotiation regarding boundaries, the PM said, "We will continue discussions, seeking early agreement on a framework for a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable boundary settlement." They also spoke on the shared rivers between India and China. "I also reiterated to Premier Li our concerns about the effects on lower riparians of activities in the upper reaches of our shared rivers," Singh said. On the economic front in terms of ties, the PM said, "Economic cooperation constitutes a very important part of our relationship." "The growth potential of our two economies can provide the engine for greater cooperation," the PM elaborated. "There are many ongoing areas of co-operation that we will carry forward as outlined in the Joint Statement," he said and added, "I look forward to seeing him again very soon and I have also accepted his gracious invitation to visit China at the earliest opportunity." New Delhi accused Chinese troops of intruding nearly 20 kilometres (12 miles) into Indian-claimed territory, triggering a three-week standoff that was resolved when troops from both sides pulled back.

The Line of Actual Control between the nuclear-armed neighbours has never been formally demarcated, although they have signed accords to maintain peace in the region that was the site of a brief Indo-Chinese war in 1962.

Although Li did not mention the border dispute, he stressed that cooperation between the world's two most populous nations had global ramifications.

"World peace... cannot be a reality without strategic trust between India and China," he said.

Li is also scheduled to meet foreign minister Salman Khurshid, Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi and senior figures from the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party before heading Tuesday to the financial hub, Mumbai.