China's Xi moots infrastructure cooperation with India to mend ties

China and India should expand co-operation in infrastructure development and facilitate bilateral investments while keeping strategic communication and bilateral relations on the ''right track'', China's newly elected President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday.

Unveiling five proposals for keeping relations between India and China on the right track, the new Chinese President said the resolution of the vexed boundary dispute between the two countries "won't be easy" and pending its final settlement "peace and tranquility" should be maintained on the border without affecting the overall ties.

Xi was addressing select editors from BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) countries in his first interaction with international media.

Xi, 59, who took over as the head of Communist Party, President and military chief, also expressed keenness to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh next week on the sidelines of the BRICS conference.

He said the two countries with a combined population in excess of 2.5 billion should cooperate in multilateral for a to safeguard the ''legitimate rights and interests'' of developing countries.

While replying to a question on whether there would be any change in its position on the border issue, Xi said, the two sides should keep off such vexed issues and pursue the possible for the present.

"Pending the final settlement of the boundary question the two sides should work together and maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas and prevent the border question from affecting the overall development of bilateral relations," Xi said.

Xi Jinping, the first Chinese President born after the country's independence in 1949, said China sees its ties with India as "one of the most important bilateral relationships".

Xi's proposals to improve China-India relations include:

• Maintain strategic communication and keep bilateral relations on the "right track";
• Harness each other's comparative strengths and expand cooperation in infrastructure;
• Strengthen cultural ties and constantly endeavour to expand mutual friendship;
• Expand coordination and collaboration in multi-lateral fora to jointly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries and tackle global challenges; and
• Accommodate each other's core concerns and properly handle problems and existing differences.

The Chinese leader said since India and China were pursuing goals of faster economic development, there are also ample opportunities for the two countries to boost mutually beneficial cooperation.

"We should seize the opportunities and take solid steps to bolster cooperation in all fields and take China-India relations to a new height," he said.

"We jointly follow the path of peaceful development, which involves cooperation and common interest of the two countries. It is also doing great service to Asia and the world," he said.

The border issue continues to dissuade mutually beneficial cooperation between the two neighbours even as China has emerged India's biggest trading partner.

India and China continues to claim rights over areas in each others possession. India asserts rights to about 4,000 km area under Chinese possession while China claims about 2,000 km area of Arunachal Pradesh as Southern Tibet.