Chinese media harps on ties with India

China's official news agency Xinhua said in a report carried by state-run People's Daily that Prime Ministers Wen and Manmohan Singh had reaffirmed their commitment to promote bilateral relations.

Xinhua said that the relationship between China and India had experienced an unusual course over the past 60 years.

"However, friendly cooperation has always been the mainstream, which is not only in the interest of both countries and peoples, but also helpful for peace and development of the region and the world at large."

Wen's three-day visit to India ended Friday. He is now in Pakistan.

China Daily, which created a special section for Wen's India visit, said in an article that the two leaders had called for tranquility on the Sino-Indian border and to maintain cooperation in various fields.

All the media reported at length the various programmes Wen had in New Delhi, including details of the official interactions and the key quotes from Wen and Manmohan Singh.
The Shanghai Daily ran a story highlighting the economic aspect of the premier's visit.

The article titled "China, India target trade worth $100 bn by 2015", it said: "The leaders of China and India called for a stronger partnership, committed to a huge increase in trade and hailed the creation of an emergency hotline, as they stressed a spirit of cooperation - not competition - between the two Asia's two neighbours."

The daily said China was India's largest trading partner but New Delhi had failed to persuade Beijing to lift restrictions on the import of Indian software, farm products and drugs.