Following are the highlights of the joint declaration issued after the talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese President Hu Jintao on Tuesday. The two sides committed themselves to a ten-pronged strategy to enhance ties. They are:
1. Ensuring comprehensive development of bilateral relations.
- Hold regular summit-level meetings
- Open additional consulate general offices at Kolkata and Guangzhou.
2. Strengthening institutional linkages and dialogue mechanisms.
- Concerned ministries shall intensify exchanges under the existing dialogue mechanisms.
3. Consolidating commercial and economic exchanges.
- Endeavour to raise volume of bilateral trade to $40 billion (about Rs 90,000 crore) by 2010
4. Expanding all round mutually beneficial cooperation
- Agree to fully implement the provisions of the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of oil and natural gas.
- Strengthen cooperation in the information and communication technology sector.
- Set-up expert-level mechanism to exchange flood season hydrological data.
5. Instilling mutual trust and confidence through defence cooperation.
- Fully implement provisions of MoU for exchanges and cooperation in the field of Defence signed on May 29, this year
6. Seeking early settlement of outstanding issues.
- Committed to resolve outstanding differences, including boundary through peaceful means in a fair, reasonable, mutually acceptable and proactive manner.
- Joint Working Group on the boundary issue to expedite work
7. Promoting trans-border connectivity and cooperation
- China to provide greater facilitation to Indian pilgrims for Kailash Mansarovar Yatra. Explore possibility of opening additional route.
8. Boosting cooperation in science and technology
- Expansion of civil nuclear cooperation.
- Strengthen cooperation in the use of space-based technologies.
9. Revitalising cultural ties and nurturing people-to-people exchanges.
- Organise 'Festival of India' in China and 'Festival of China' in India.
- Establish India-China Exchange Foundation.
- Launch new Educational Exchange Programme
- Organise the India-China Year of Friendship through Tourism in 2007.
10. Expanding cooperation on regional and international stage.
- Shall positively assess the trilateral dialogue mechanism among India, China and Russia.
- Revitalise and broaden India-China dialogue mechanism on counter-terrorism.
- Share developmental experiences with other developing countries and the international community through two-part seminar in New Delhi and Beijing.
- Strengthen cooperation in the World Trade Organisation.
- India to continue to abide by 'One China' policy.
- India reiterates its recognition of the Tibet Autonomous Region as part of China and not to allow Tibetans to engage in anti-China political activities in India.
