'Mistrust hampering ties'

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JAN. 13. The senior Chinese leader, Mr. Li Peng, who is here on an extended mission to improve Sino-Indian relations, today acknowledged that accumulated mistrust and lack of understanding continue to trouble the ties between the two Asian giants.

Speaking at the India International Centre here today, Mr. Li insisted that generating greater trust ``is a pressing task in our bilateral relations''.

Taking advantage of his only public address during his nine-day long tour of India, Mr. Li sought to explain the five basic principles that guide Chinese policy towards India.

The first of these principles, according to Mr. Li, is that China ``has never taken India as a threat, nor we intend to pose a threat'' to India. In reiterating this formulation, the Chinese leadership hopes that New Delhi will rise above the China bogey that has dominated its national security discourse.

Second, China is keen on expanding trade and economic cooperation with India. Despite the ten-fold rise in bilateral trade in recent years, Mr. Li said, the level is ``far from commensurate with the scale of our respective economies''. Third, China wants to expand cooperation with India in international affairs. As the world's two largest developing countries, Mr. Li said, India and China ``have the obligation and capability to work more actively to play their due part in international arena''.

Fourth, Mr. Li sought to explain the Chinese view on the management of the existing divergence between the two nations. He called for ``courage and will'' on the part of the leaders from the two nations to resolve outstanding differences such as the boundary dispute.

At the same time, Mr. Li said, these differences ``should not become impediments to the growth of our bilateral relationship''. Positive evolution of the ties, he added, ``will create more favourable conditions for the ultimate resolution of those problems and differences''.

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