Enough space in world for rise of India, China: Ansari

Beijing, Jun 30: There is enough space in the world for the rise of India and China, Vice President

said today while asserting that the two neighbours have transcended bilateral scope in ties as they view each other as partners for mutual benefit and not as rivals.

On the global stage, the two countries, that account for about 37 per cent of the world's population, are at the forefront of the emergence of a "more democratic global order" to resolve global issues in an equitable manner, he said while delivering a speech at the prestigious Chinese Academy of Social Sciences here. "There is enough space in the world for the development of India and China, and the world needs the common development of both countries.

As two large developing countries, our common interests far outweigh our differences," Ansari said in his speech on 'Calibrated Futurology: India, China and the World'. Ansari said India admires China's achievements in terms of development and hopes to see the country become a developed country soon. He noted that it is very rare in history that two large neighbours have become rising powers at the same time.

"Our destinies are linked by geography and history. We welcome China's peaceful development and regard it as a mutually reinforcing process," Ansari said. He said the relations between the two neighbours have transcended the bilateral scope and acquired regional, global and strategic significance. "We both view each other as partners for mutual benefit and not as rivals or competitors. It has been customary to focus on bilateral issues although both our nations face similar global challenges today.

The inter-dependence for dealing with these issues will only grow," Ansari said. "Our primary interest is to pay attention to the task of development. For it to succeed, both countries need a peaceful periphery and an environment of tranquillity. And thus it has been the objective of both our countries to seek tranquillity and stability in our immediate neighbourhood and extended region.

Only then can we bring prosperity and stability to Asia and the world," he said. Ansari noted that the record of Sino-India relations is a mixed one, but improving. "The border clash of 1962 left a scar on the Indian psyche and led to a brief interregnum in the growth of ties. Both countries renewed high-level exchanges in the late 1970s. These paved way for expanding cooperation in the fields of trade, economy, culture and people-to-people exchanges," he said. Ansari is on a five-day visit to China to take part in the 60th anniversary of Panchsheel.

PTI