India, China to boost bilateral ties, promote nuclear cooperation

India and China have agreed to double bilateral trade to $ 40 billion by 2010 and "promote" cooperation in civil nuclear field as part of measures to chart a new course for an "irreversible friendship" between the world's two fastest growing economies.

"They (India and China) shall make joint efforts to diversify their trade basket, remove existing impediments, and utilize the present and potential complementarities to sustain and strengthen bilateral commercial and economic cooperation," a joint declaration issued after talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese President Hu Jintao said.

The two countries, which are rivals in the race to acquire oil and gas fields across the world, also agreed to implement the provisions of the memorandum on cooperation in oil and gas signed in January 2006.

They would encourage collaboration between their enterprises, including through joint exploration and development of hydrocarbon resources in third countries.

The declaration said the two sides would step up the exchange of experience in agriculture and rural development, including food security, and hold discussions on the standards for agricultural goods to facilitate trade in such goods.

Both the countries have also agreed to strengthen their cooperation in the World Trade Organization (WTO).

"They (India and China) support the establishment of an open, fair, equitable, transparent and rule based multilateral trading system, early resumption of Doha negotiations, and are determined to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the developing countries," the joint declaration said.

As founder–members of the G–20 and G–33, India and China would strengthen cooperation and coordinate with other members of the WTO, especially the developing countries, to secure an early resumption of the negotiations on Doha Work Programme, the declaration added.

"China welcomes and supports improvement in relations between India and Pakistan," said Chinese President Hu Jintao, a day ahead of his visit to Islamabad at the end of four–day trip to India.

"China does not seek any selfish gains in South Asia," he said, "Beijing stands ready to play a "constructive role for promotion of peace and development of the sub–continent."

According to official sources, the two neighbors decided to venture on a "10–pronged strategy" to boost their comprehensive ties in commercial, political and strategic areas and signed 13 pacts, including the Bilateral Investment Protection Agreement (BIPA) and a protocol on setting up consulates at Guangzhou and Kolkata.

The two sides also decided to speed up the process for an ambitious regional trading arrangement. A joint statement said a joint task force set up to study the feasibility of an India–China Regional Trading Arrangement has been told to expedite its study and submit report by October 2007.

Other pacts related to inspection of export cargo (Iron Ore), an understanding between the Forward Markets Commission (FMC) of India and the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) on cooperation in commodity futures, and cooperation in nuclear energy.