Indian Home Minister aims at “deepening trust” during China visit
November 19, 2015, 2:59 pm

Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing on 19 November 2015 [Xinhua]

“As the two biggest developing countries, and neighbors, deepened political mutual trust and expanding cooperation will benefit the region and the world,” Li told Singh who is on a 6-day visit to China.

Singh, a former president of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), holds the second most senior cabinet post after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is responsible for policing and internal security.

Chinese Premier Li said China will further enhance opening-up, create a better business environment, and improve intellectual poverty protection to attract foreign investment.

He said China welcomed Indian companies to invest in China and hoped India could provide more opportunities for Chinese investment.

The premier also called on the two sides to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in counterterrorism and fighting against transnational crimes.

India and China played an important role in the world, Singh was quoted as saying by Chinese agency Xinhua.

He said India was ready to conduct regular exchanges and cooperation with China on security and law enforcement. He also called on the two countries to properly handle disputes through dialogue and consultation to maintain the peace in bordering areas.

Singh, in Beijing, also suggested that India should emulate a Chinese model university on security and policing.

“Visited People’s Public Security University of China in Beijing today. It has nearly 10000 faculty members to teach security and policing. India has a National Police Academy at Hyderabad.Establishing a National University on policing and security in India would be of immense help,” tweeted the Indian Home Minister.

Chinese and Indian armies held joint anti-terrorism military drills, the fifth of its kind between the two countries’ armies, last month in Kunming, capital of southwest China’s Yunnan Province.

China’s state-run Global Times said last month, “as members of the BRICS countries, both Beijing and New Delhi should boost their cooperation while improving themselves, in order to jointly create an Asian century, make breakthroughs in the current financial order, and forge a new global economic order that is more in line with emerging markets’ interests”.

The influential daily criticized western media for fanning hostilities between the two countries.

“Western media tend to view these issues with colored glasses, and therefore often misread the accidental confrontations on the borders,” said an editorial on Monday.

China has recently lauded Indian support during its World War II conflict with Japan.

Chinese envoy Le Yucheng said in New Delhi in August that India helped China defeat “fascist Japan”.

“The Chinese people will not forget that as military allies, Chinese and Indian armies fought shoulder to shoulder against the Fascists, notably in the theater in Myanmar and the Indian army was instrumental in inflicting the most serious land defeat suffered by Japan in the war,” he said.

Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has also referred to the burgeoning trade and investment ties between India and China.

“India-China trade has increased significantly. Trade has brought the two countries much closer… We have some contentious issues of the past between us, but even while those issues would be resolved in the due course, I think our economic relations have become a symbol of strength and therefore mutual investments in each other’s country will be a win-win situation for both of us,” Jaitley said.

New Delhi and Beijing have set a target to reach $100 billion in bilateral trade by 2015.

“China had been a significant contributor to the global growth in the past decade,” the Indian Finance Minister said in September this year.

“Great economies do compete with each other and that does not mean they become opponents,” he said while facing media questions on the ‘rivalry’ between the two neighbours.

BRICS members China, India and Russia are also the three largest shareholders in the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), with a voting share of 26.06 per cent, 7.5 per cent and 5.92 per cent, respectively.

TBP and Agencies