(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-01-14 07:23

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will confine his first visit to China to Beijing only. It is reported that he has also kept all landmarks of the city such as the Great Wall and Forbidden City off his itinerary.

It is a belated visit by Singh who arrived in Beijing yesterday. His previous visit was cancelled at the last minute in June 2006 when he was to attend the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Compared to his predecessor Atal Bihari Vajpayee's large entourage in 2003, Singh is on a low-profile visit, accompanied by a small group, including Indian Commerce Minister Kamal Nath and National Security Advisor M. K. Narayanan.

Preparations for the visit have been going on since Indian National Congress Party Chairwoman, Sonia Gandhi visited China in October last year.

His schedule shows that while here he will concentrate on specific matters such as the border issue and bilateral trade.

The border issue has always been on the agenda when Chinese and Indian leaders meet. A relic of the two countries' past, settlement of the issue will depend on wisdom, vision and flexibility. It is unrealistic to expect a solution from a single meeting.

Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee has expressed caution about any "dramatic turnaround on certain issues, which are long-pending".

Vice-Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo and Indian National Security Advisor Narayanan will keep the negotiations on settling the border issue while Singh is in Beijing.

An economist, Singh will deliver a speech on globalization at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

On different occasions the Indian Prime Minister has said that there is enough room in the international arena for rise of the world's two largest populous countries.

Members of BRIC, an acronym for the emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China, the two Asian countries have grown into two powerful engines driving the world economy.

Their common interests outweigh their differences. This is the very reason they are capable of pursuing peace and prosperity together.

(China Daily 01/14/2008 page4)