Li: India visit aims to enhance trust, deepen co-op

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said in New Delhi on Monday that his official visit to India is aimed at enhancing mutual trust and deepening bilateral cooperation, and is future-oriented.

Li made the remarks to the press at a welcoming ceremony held by his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh in his honor at the presidential palace.

"This is my first foreign trip since I assumed the premiership, and choosing India as the first leg of my tour is because India is China's important neighbor and also because I once visited India 27 years ago," said Li.

Li said his visit carries three missions.

"First, my visit is aimed at strengthening strategic mutual trust between the two countries," Li said, adding that both Beijing and New Delhi regard the other's development as its own opportunities.

It is a blessing to Asia and the world that China and India, on the basis of enhanced strategic mutual trust, could deepen understanding of each other, forge a new type of great-power relationship, and promote the healthy and stable development of bilateral ties, Li said.

"The peace of the world and the stability of the region cannot be guaranteed without strategic mutual trust between China and India. Likewise, the world's development and prosperity cannot be realized without cooperation between China and India," Li said.

Noting that the combined population of the two countries accounts for more than one third of the world's total, Li said China and India, the only two countries in the world with a population of more than one billion, provide two major markets of huge potentials to the world.

Secondly, he said his visit will further deepen bilateral practical cooperation, including promoting trade at regional level.

The combination and complementation of the two markets will present Asia and the world with huge opportunities to realize growth, development and prosperity, he added.

Thirdly, the visit is future-oriented, said the Chinese premier.

"Many have predicted that Asia will play an increasingly important role in the 21st century," Li said.

The cooperation between China and India as well as their development are an indispensable part of the process that Asia plays a bigger role in promoting peace, cooperation and development in the world, he said.

Li said he will exchange in-depth views with Singh and other Indian leaders on future development.

"I am confident that we will view bilateral relations from a strategic height, handle disputes from the perspective of the overall situation,jointly nurture new bright spots in cooperation among Asian countries, and create a new engine of the economic growth of the world," he said.

Li arrived in New Delhi Sunday afternoon and had a brief meeting with Singh.

After his stay in India, Li will also visit Pakistan, Switzerland and Germany.