Good neighborly cooperation

China and India will continue to work together to narrow differences and expand common ground for development

Editor's note: State Councillor Dai Bingguo gave an interview to the resident correspondent in Beijing from Press Trust of India. The full text of the interview follows:

Q: You were engaged with several Indian officials, especially Brajesh Mishra (who died recently) and the present National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon and others. I would like to hear your impressions about them. Can you please recall some key moments of the dialogue process and the breakthroughs?

A: The special representatives' meeting mechanism on the China-India boundary question was launched in 2003 by the prime ministers of the two countries. Since then, I have held 15 meetings with four Indian special representatives.

Brajesh Mishra was the first Indian special representative. He was a seasoned diplomat and once had a conversation with Chairman Mao Zedong on the Tian'anmen Rostrum. Mishra and I started the negotiation process to formulate the political parameters and guiding principles for the settlement of the boundary question. The second Indian special representative was J. N. Dixit, a veteran career diplomat. My meetings with him produced constructive results. It is very sad that both of them have left us forever. The third Indian special representative I worked with was M. K. Narayanan. We concluded the Agreement on the Political Parameters and Guiding Principles and then started discussions on the framework for a boundary settlement. The current Indian special representative, S. S. Menon, served as the Indian ambassador to China and is deeply knowledgeable about China. He and I have had in-depth discussions on the settlement framework and reached a consensus on some issues.

I have forged good working relationships and personal friendships with all four Indian special representatives. We have worked together to seek the settlement of the boundary question and to progress the bilateral relationship. Our talks have received high attention and guidance from the leaders of both countries. During each of my visits to India for the boundary talks, I have been granted a cordial meeting by the Indian prime minister.

Q: This year is the 50th year of the 1962 Sino-Indian war. Both countries had a strong emotional relationship nurtured by the leaders before the war with slogans like Hindi-Chini Bhai Bhai (Indians and Chinese are brothers). How difficult is it to restore the relations? Is it possible to take them to that level?

A: In more than 2,000 years of exchanges between China and India, we have been friends for 99.9 percent of the time, while unpleasant experiences have occupied only 0.1 percent. More and more people of vision in India believe that our two countries should cast off the shadow of history in a forward-looking spirit, and the past should guide rather than hinder our endeavor to build a bright future together. I fully agree with this view.

China is fully committed to pursuing peaceful development and developing friendly and cooperative relations with India. As the saying goes, nothing is impossible to a willing mind. It seems to me that as long as we are devoted to staying friends forever, never treat each other as an enemy, pursue long-term peace and friendly coexistence and vigorously promote win-win cooperation, we will be capable of creating miracles to the benefit of our peoples and all of mankind.