China to coordinate better on border

Disclosing this during his address at the Indian Council of World Affairs here, Chinese premier Wen Jiabao said: “This (mechanism) will help enhance our mutual trust and maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas,” he said.

He, however, cautioned that there would not be any easy solutions to the border issue. Terming it as a “historical legacy”, he said it would not be easy to completely resolve the matter.

“It requires patience and will take a fairly long period of time. Only with sincerity, mutual trust and perseverance can we eventually find a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution,” Wen said.

River front

The Chinese premier also promised to look into the problems faced by India on the river front. There were reports in the media earlier this year that China was damming the transborder Brahmaputra river, known in China as the Yarlung Tasngpo, for infrastructure projects that sparked fears in India of its downstream impact.

“We will do whatever we can and do it even better. I would like to assure our Indian friends that all the upstream development activities by China will be based on scientific planning and study and will take into consideration the interests of both upstream and downstream,” he added.

The Chinese leader hailed the interaction between the cultures of the two civilisations over the past several hundred years.

“Indian culture has enriched Chinese culture. Chinese culture also left its impression on India,” he said.

“Rabindranath Tagore has left deep impression on Chinese intelligentsia. And there have been many scholars who have studied Indian culture,” Wen said. He noted that Indian culture had left a “deep impression on Chinese thought and the world’s thinking process”.

Highlighting the contribution of Dr Dwarkanath Kotnis, the Chinese premier said, “His heroic deeds will be forever engraved on our mind.”

Kotnis was part of a team of Indian doctors who went to offer medical assistance during the Sino-Japanese war in 1938.