China : India require special care

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao arrives in New Delhi,
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 in New Delhi 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.

Two neighbours 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, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vishnu Prakash told reporters.
On addressing 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.

Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, who was present too at the conference, sought to address the feelings of the Chinese envoy,by telling him that India has a "very ommonsensical" and "very rational" approach to China.Eager in 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.The 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 neighborhood.
Noting that India was in touch with 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".