Chinese PM terms India trip historic & successful
"We have produced very rich results through this (India) visit," Wen told reporters in New Delhi at the end a four-nation South Asia trip that included stops in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
"It is fair to say that this is a historic visit," Wen said adding that when he met host Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday, Singh had told him: "Prime minister, actually we two are making new history."
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. The two Asian giants, who fought a brief but bitter war in 1962, Monday signed a slew of accords including one that sets out a roadmap for resolving a dragging border issue.
India says China is occupying 38,000 square kilometres (14,670 square miles) of Indian territory in Kashmir illegally ceded to it by Pakistan in the 1950s.
Beijing, in turn, claims that the remote 90,000-square-kilometre Indian-administered state of Arunachal Pradesh belongs to China.
A formal ceasefire line is yet to be established but the unsettled frontier has remained largely peaceful, thanks to agreements signed in 1993 and 1996.
Wen Tuesday hailed the border deal as the "very first political guiding document signed since the resumption of negotiations" in the 1980s to sort out the border dispute.
"This is a sign that we have brought our boundary negotiations to a new stage," he said.
Beijing had taken a number of steps to maintain stability and tranquillity along its borders with India, he said.
"As long as we have sincerity and patience and as long as we persevere in this effort, we will be able to build the India-China boundary into a bond of peace and friendship," Wen said.
The Chinese premier also hailed a joint statement he and Singh had signed in which the Asian giants agreed to establish an India-China strategic and cooperative partnership for peace and prosperity.
"...We have taken the relations to a new level," Wen said, listing the adoption of a programme to boost two-way trade from 13.6 billion dollars to 20 billion by 2008 and to 30 billion by 2010 as the third "major result" of his trip.
He said the status of the tiny Himalayan state of Sikkim was "no longer an issue" between the world's most populous countries.
He was referring to China Monday formally burying its decades-old dispute on New Delhi's claims over the former British protectorate of Sikkim after India reiterated Beijing's sovereign right over Tibet.
Wen said China was working towards setting up a market for border trade adjacent to Sikkim.
"We hope the two sides will make earnest efforts ... to further develop border trade cooperation. This would certainly serve the interests of the people living on the borders," he said.
On the emerging trilateral cooperation between India, China and Russia, Wen said this move should not be construed as an alliance targeting other countries.
India, Russia and China have held several ministerial-level meetings to coordinate their positions on global and regional issues at the United Nations and other international forums.
Wen left New Delhi for Beijing early afternoon, a foreign ministry official said.
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