China for 'cooperative partnership'

NEW DELHI, MARCH 12. Asserting that it does not foresee economic and military rivalry with India, China today said ties between the two countries should be raised to the level of a ``cooperative partnership'' in a world sought to be dominated by a single power, an indirect reference to the United States.

``The threat is not from China to India and not from India to China. It comes from other places,'' the Chinese Ambassador, Mr. Zhou Gang, told PTI here.

``In the long-term if you analyse the international situation, you will see the fact that there is only one force dominating the world and asserting its domination to create a unipolar world.

Asserting that Beijing does not want any arms race with New Delhi, he said China does not consider India an enemy or a threat to its security.

On the Karmapa's escape to India, he said, ``New Delhi is obliged to ensure that the Karmapa was not utilised to obstruct friendly relations between India and China''. ``We have asked India to inform us about his whereabouts and guarantee his personal safety in accordance with the consular agreement between the two countries,'' he said.

To shake hands

According to the Chinese Ambassador, Indian and Chinese military officers would shake hands at three points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) next month to mark the golden jubilee of establishment of diplomatic ties between the two neighbours. ``They would meet and exchange greetings at three check points along the LAC,'' Mr. Zhou said.

Mr. Zhou said April 1, which marks the 50th anniversary, ``is a great event worth commemorating in the history of Sino-India relations. Both sides are attaching great importance to it and working to make it a grand occasion''.

Dialogue `productive'

Meanwhile, in Beijing the Chinese Foreign Ministry sources said the first-ever India-China security dialogue was ``productive'' in enhancing mutual trust and cooperation.

The very fact that the two countries held a security dialogue itself is significant, sources said, while pointing out that both sides have agreed to continue the process by holding the next round in India.

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