China, India pledge to boost partnership

BEIJING, May 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with visiting Indian President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday, pledging to boost the strategic and cooperative partnership between the two nations.

Hailing the development of the bilateral ties in recent years, Xi said the two sides should stick to the theme of neighborly friendship and reciprocal cooperation to cement the China-Indian relationship and benefit the people of the two countries.

Xi proposed the two sides consolidate political trust by maintaining strategic communication between state leaders and making use of various bilateral dialogue mechanisms, and tap the potential for practical cooperation on railways, industrial park, smart city, new energy, environmental protection, information technology, human resources, industrial capacity, investment, tourism and services.

The Chinese president looked forward to closer cultural and people-to-people exchanges as well as law-enforcement and security cooperation between the two countries.

"The two sides should appropriately address our differences," Xi said, adding that the Chinese side is appreciative of India's adherence to the one-China policy.

Xi suggested China and India support each other in regional and international affairs and work together to make successes of this year's Group of Twenty summit and BRICS summit.

The Chinese president called for joint efforts to join their development strategies, advance the construction of the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar economic corridor, make the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank a professional and efficient financing platform and conclude the negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership at an early date.

Mukherjee, who is making a state visit to China at Xi's invitation, said that all political parties in India support developing relations with China.

Mukherjee said the cooperation between India and China, both as growing economies and major powers, can benefit the people of the two countries and the entire humanity.

Echoing Xi, Mukherjee said the Indian side stands ready to expand trade and investment cooperation, increase people-to-people exchanges and enhance communication in international affairs with China. He also voiced the gratitude to the Chinese side for supporting India and Pakistan's accession to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

On Thursday, Mukherjee also met with China's premier Li Keqiang and top legislator Zhang Dejiang.

During his meeting with the Indian president, Li said the two countries' development constituted opportunities for each other.

Li suggested the two sides align China's "Made in China 2025" campaign and "Internet Plus" initiative with India's "Make in India" initiative and "Digital India" campaign.

The cooperation and development of China and India will not only benefit one-third of the global population, but also help global economic recovery and growth, said the premier.

Hailing China's high speed of economic growth over the past years, Mukherjee said the two neighbors should expand common ground and reduce differences, and foster a closer development partnership.

During their meeting, Zhang, chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC), said the NPC stands ready to boost friendly relations with the parliament of India and Mukherjee pledged his support for exchange and cooperation between the legislatures of the two countries.