China advocates a fair and reasonable solution to the China-India border
issue, said Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in an interview conducted and published
jointly by the Press Trust of India and the Indian national newspaper "The
Hindu".
Wen said the solution should be based on the principles of equal
consultations, mutual understanding and accommodation and reciprocal
adjustments. To solve the issue, the two sides should first make efforts to
maintain peace in the border area, he added.
The progress of China-India relations is satisfactory, said Wen, noting that
the stable development of the relations serves the fundamental interests of the
two peoples and is conducive to peace and development in the region and in the
world at large.
With their vast markets, the Chinese and Indian economies enjoy different
advantages and are complementary, he said, underlining that exchanges between
the two governments and between private enterprises of the two countries are
conducive to mutual understanding and mutually beneficial cooperation.
When asked to comment on China's foreign policy towards its neighbors, Wen
said that the advancement of the modernization drive, the fulfillment of the
reunification of the motherland, and the preservation of world peace and
promotion of common development are the three main tasks of China in the new
century.
China, therefore, needs a long-term, stable, peaceful international
environment, especially a good neighborhood environment, and is willing to make
efforts in this regard, he said.
This has become China's fundamental national policy which will never change,
he said.
The Chinese, having suffered a great deal from invasion and humiliation, long
for peace and stability, he said, adding that China, still a developing country,
will not seek hegemony even when it becomes a developed country.
China's development will constitute no threat to other countries, but is
helpful to a common development of the region, he said.
