Chinese Ambassador calls for ?special care? of ?fragile? Indo-China ties

New Delhi : As Chinese premier Wen Jiabao prepares for a vital visit to India later this week, China?s Ambassador Zhang Yan on Monday said ?special care? is needed for the ?fragile ties? between the two Asian nations, while India?s Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao assured of a balanced and positive approach of the host nation towards China.

?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,? Yan said at a conference on India-China relations by the FICCI here.

Stressing on need for more trust between the two neighbours, he said, ?To achieve this, the government should provide guidance to the public to avoid a war of words.?

The Chinese Ambassador also maintained that there was enough space for both the countries to grow and prosper.

?The two neighbouring countries should work together as a world factory and world office,? he said.

Rao, assuring of a ?very rational? approach towards China, said the democratic set-up of India at times leads to a diverse view of things from the neighbour?s end.

She said, ?Often, our Chinese friends speak of a certain gulf in appreciation of each country vis-a-vis the other, especially when it comes to opinions of that are expressed in the media of the two countries.

?Our Chinese friends are increasingly exposed to the vibrant, I would say, noisy nature of our democracy. The fact that many schools of thought contend, many opinions are expressed which are often at divergence with each other.

But I would urge them to understand that there is a certain very commonsensical, very rational approach that we in India have to China.?

Pointing that China was India?s largest neighbour, Rao added, ?We regard in a real sense and an absolute sense the importance of building bridges with China, understanding China better, creating more of a mutually beneficial relationship between the two countries.?