China, India should resolve boundary issue quickly: PM

He was addressing uture leaders at the Chinese Communist Party's Central Party School

Outlining seven principles of engagement for closer cooperation between India and China, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said the two countries should show sensitivity to each other's interests and sovereignty and move quickly to resolve the boundary issue.

Addressing future leaders at the Chinese Communist Party's Central Party School, Singh said old theories of alliances and containment are no longer relevant.

"India and China cannot be contained and our recent history is testimony to this. Nor should we seek to contain others," he said.

The Prime Minister was received with a standing ovation and his speech on "India, China - A New Era" was given a huge round of applause by the audience.

In his seven principles of engagement, Singh said, "One should reaffirm an unwavering commitment to the principles of 'Panchsheel' and conduct our relationship in a spirit of mutual respect, sensitivity to each other's interests and sovereignty, and mutual and equal security."

He said India has welcomed President Xi Jinping's concept of a new type of great power relations.

"This is a contemporary development of the Panchsheel or Five Principles of co-existence, elaborated by Prime Minister (Jawaharlal) Nehru and Premier Zhou Enlai in the 1950s," Singh said.

A day after reaching accords on cooperation in border defence and trans-border river issues, Singh said maintaining peace and tranquillity in the India-China border region has been the cornerstone of the bilateral relationship.

"It is essential for mutual confidence and for the expansion of our relations. We should do nothing to disturb that. Indeed we can achieve it by adhering to our agreements and utilising our bilateral mechanisms effectively. At the same time, we should move quickly to resolve our boundary issue," he said.

The address to the Communist Party Central School is a rare honour given to visiting leaders from abroad.

The Prime Minister also spelt out a six-point roadmap of areas offering cooperation between the two countries and invited Chinese investment in Indian plans to invest USD one trillion in infrastructure in the next five years.