China says relations with India require special care

New Delhi, Dec 13 (PTI) Two days before Chinese Premier
Wen Jiabao arrives here, China on Monday said Sino-India
relations were "very fragile" requiring special care, to which
India responded by affirming that its approach was "very
rational".
Wen lands here on Wednesday along with a biggest ever
delegation of 400 businessmen, senior ministers and officials
for the three-day visit which Beijing has described as a "big
event."
The Chinese Premier will have discussions with his
Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh on a host of security and
strategic issues, including issuance of stapled visa by China
to residents of Jammu and Kashmir, greater market access for
Indian goods to that country's market and UN reforms.
Both sides will be holding wide-ranging discussions on
a range of issues--bilateral, global, regional-- and of mutual
interest and a number of agreements and MoUs are likely to be
signed or concluded during the visit, Indian External Affairs
Ministry Spokesperson Vishnu Prakash told reporters.
Addressing a conference, Chinese Ambassador to India
Zhang Yan said "China-India relations are very fragile and
very easy to be damaged and very difficult to repair.
Therefore, they need special care in the information age."
"To achieve this, the government should provide guidance
to the public to avoid a war of words," Zhang said, adding
that his country views India's rise as "positive" and as an
"opportunity" to China.
India's Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, who was present
at the conference, sought to address the feelings of the
Chinese envoy, by telling him that India has a "very
commonsensical" and "very rational" approach to China.
Besides helping to ease some of the irritants that has
cropped up in the past one year between the two countries, the
visit is expected to provide further impetus to the
multi-faceted bilateral ties.
Activities of Chinese firms in Pakistan-occupied-
Kashmir(PoK), increasing military sales to Pakistan and China-
Pak civil nuclear co-operation are some of the Indian concerns
that will be raised during the visit.
India has been maintaining that it was engaged with all
its interlocutors, including China, over its concerns on
terrorism which emanates from this country's neighbourhood.
Noting that India was in touch with the Chinese side on
the growing trade imbalance, Prakash said efforts were also
underway to have better market access for Indian products such
as IT services and agricultural farm products.
Asked if the stapled visa issue will be resolved
during Wen's visit, Gautam Bambawale, Joint Secretary (East
Asia) in the Ministry of External Affairs, said "We have
raised (the issue) with Chinese side for last many months and
we hope the Chinese side will address the issue. But whether
it will happen today, tomorrow, during the visit or after the
visit" he said he will not be able to comment. PTI