Heart-to-heart exchanges will boost ties

New Delhi, Dec 16 (PTI) As curtains drew on the year-
long festival of China in India, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao
Thursday night said heart-to-heart exchanges between the
people of two countries will help in further enhancing ties.
"Heart-to-heart exchanges between the two countries
will help in further boosting the ties between China and
India," the visiting premier said at a ceremony where artistes
put up a dazzling show of fusion of the two ancient cultures.
"The outcome of my visit has been successful. We can
say that an Asian century has arrived," he said.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who addressed
the gathering at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, said, "We also
open our hearts and minds to usher in the next decades of
India- China friendship and cooperation."
Singh said the cooperation between the two neighbours
will be the keystone of the Asian century that is unfolding.
"I appreciate the personal role by Wen in advancing
the strategic partnership. This has laid the ground work for
the future India China relations," he said.
"Universally, it has been acknowledged that 21st
century is Asian century. In the 21st century, India and China
will march together as friends and not as rivals," he said.
"We must close the information gap between the two
countries and know about each country's development on our own
rather than through third countries," Singh said.