Li's India Trip; China-India's Large Potential Makes West Anxious


Beijing: China and India's combined potential are large enough to make the West anxious but there are "many weaknesses in the bilateral relationship", a state-run Chinese daily has said.

Said the Global Times in an editorial, the second day of Premier Li Keqiang's India trip: "As China's new premier, his selection of India for his first overseas trip has widely been interpreted as a sign that China is attaching greater importance and respect to this large neighbour."

It said that the ties between China and India has long been plagued by negative news.

"This has caused public opinion about the relationship to become more negative than the reality warrants (and)...a `tent confrontation' between the two sides made headlines.

"It's difficult to simply judge Sino-Indian relations as 'good' or 'bad'. New conflicts initiated by border disputes may break out at any time, according to worst-case scenarios," the daily said.

The daily stressed that the actual situation in border areas is much better than the Diaoyu Islands disputes with Japan and some other disputed islands in the South China Sea.

"Both sides have been trying to divert the focus of the bilateral relationship from border disputes to other areas. In spite of media hype, both sides share a common will in terms of preventing border problems from impeding Sino-Indian ties," it said.

Source: IANS