Washington, Wednesday, 08 February 2012: Asserting that it would continue to invest in building a stable and cooperative relationship with China, India has said that the ties between the two countries are a source of regional stability and prosperity.

“China is our largest neighbour, a major country in the Asia Pacific region and a country with great global influence.We have considerable challenges in our relationship, but also enormous opportunities for mutually beneficial partnership at the bilateral and global levels,” Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai told a Washington-based think-tank.

“We will continue to invest in building a stable and cooperative relationship with China that is mutually beneficial, and also a source of regional stability and prosperity,” he said while speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

“There are a number of global and regional challenges on which India, China and the United States must work together. We welcome the proposal Secretary Clinton made last July in Delhi for a trilateral dialogue between India, China and the United States,” Mathai said.

Mathai’’s remarks on China gains significance given that the Chinese Vice President is coming to the US next week.

The Foreign Secretary said the Indian Ocean is central to India’’s economy and its security, and it is also a region of growing global strategic attention.

“India does not want to see this ocean emerge as a contested common or remain vulnerable to natural disasters, piracy or instability in coastal or littoral states. For this reason, we not only have robust bilateral economic and security relationships in the region, but through regional initiatives like Indian Ocean Naval Symposium and the IOR-ARC, we are seeking to promote comprehensive economic cooperation,” he said.

“Maritime security, more broadly, has emerged as a key national security priority. We believe that maritime security requires, first and foremost, a collective affirmation of the principles of freedom of navigation, unimpeded commerce and peaceful settlement of maritime disputes, in accordance with international law,” he said, adding this must be an important priority for regional diplomatic and political efforts, and it is an area of growing importance in the India-US relationship.

Mathai said India-US partnership is important for building a stable, prosperous and secure Asia-Pacific region - or, as some here have begun to call it, the Indo-Pacific region.

“This is a region of unprecedented transitions and unsettled questions, but what is clear to most of us is that many of the greatest opportunities as well as challenges of the 21st century lie in this region. India’’s engagements with Southeast and East Asia, and, increasingly, the Pacific, have expanded over the past two decades,” he said.
(News agency)