`Asia big enough ambitions of China, India’

BEIJING - Tolerance is required in the China-India relationship, a Chinese daily says, observing: “Asia is big enough to accommodate the ambitions of both emerging powers.”

The editorial appeared in Global Times Wednesday, on the day Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao arrived in India on a three-day visit.

“As two emerging Asian powers, China and India now face a new opportunity to dissolve misgivings and build mutual trust in a pragmatic way,” it said.

“Fundamentally speaking, tolerance is needed in the relationship between the two countries. Both China and India should accept that there is a neighbor running next to it at a rapid pace, rather than being suspicious about each other’s achievements. Each should see its partner’s success as stimulating and encouraging, rather than a slap in the face.

“With a positive mentality, there are actually no haunting barriers between the two countries…After all, Asia is big enough to accommodate the ambitions of both emerging powers,” the editorial maintained.

It also pointed out that it was “not easy to solve problems and conflicts between the two countries”.

“However, is there an alternative to building good neighbourly and friendly relationships? Probably not. As two Asian powers with vast territories, neither country could bear strategic confrontation, nor could the entire region. More benefits would come to both countries by solving problems, rather than expanding and focusing on conflict.”

The editorial also said that China’s “strategic calculations are not in conflict with the goodwill of boosting friendship with India”.

However, the problem is that “India’s public mentality toward this relationship is relatively complicated”.

“Some Indian people applaud the notion that Asia is slowly growing into an `arc of freedom and prosperity’, while others propose to create a triangle of interests among India, China and the US.”

While suggesting that China and India “need to further understand each other’s diplomatic interests”, it said: “The countries should work together instead of forming blocs to segregate each other. The bottom line is that each should practically demonstrate goodwill to consolidate the friendship.”

At the same time, “neither China nor India should impose its own requirements on the other country,” the editorial warned.