20 May 2013 | 15:03

Chinese premier pledges 'mutual trust' on India trip

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang pledged on Monday to build up mutual trust and cooperation with India as he held talks in New Delhi, saying good relations between the countries were key to world peace, AFP reports. "The purpose of my current visit to India is three-fold -- to increase mutual trust, to intensify cooperation and to face the future," Li told reporters as he held talks with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh. "On the basis of mutual understanding we can promote a healthy and sound relationship. "World peace... cannot be a reality without strategic cooperation between India and China." Li's visit, which is his first overseas trip since taking office, comes after a flare-up in a long-running border dispute between the two countries in a remote Himalayan region. New Delhi accused Chinese troops of intruding nearly 20 kilometres (12 miles) into Indian-claimed territory, triggering a three-week standoff that was resolved when troops from both sides pulled back. The Line of Actual Control between the nuclear-armed neighbours has never been formally demarcated, although they have signed accords to maintain peace in the region that was the site of a brief Indo-Chinese war in 1962.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang pledged on Monday to build up mutual trust and cooperation with India as he held talks in New Delhi, saying good relations between the countries were key to world peace, AFP reports. "The purpose of my current visit to India is three-fold -- to increase mutual trust, to intensify cooperation and to face the future," Li told reporters as he held talks with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh. "On the basis of mutual understanding we can promote a healthy and sound relationship. "World peace... cannot be a reality without strategic cooperation between India and China." Li's visit, which is his first overseas trip since taking office, comes after a flare-up in a long-running border dispute between the two countries in a remote Himalayan region. New Delhi accused Chinese troops of intruding nearly 20 kilometres (12 miles) into Indian-claimed territory, triggering a three-week standoff that was resolved when troops from both sides pulled back. The Line of Actual Control between the nuclear-armed neighbours has never been formally demarcated, although they have signed accords to maintain peace in the region that was the site of a brief Indo-Chinese war in 1962.

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