Beijing, Feb 1 (IANS): Stating that both countries should have mutual confidence, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday said that India desired to take economic ties with China to "a qualitatively new level".
Addressing the launch of the Second India-China Media Forum, Sushma Swaraj also said that the Narendra Modi government was committed to exploring an early settlement to the Sino-Indian boundary row.
"China is today our largest partner in trade and goods," the minister said. "The two economies are moving to invest in each other. Serious discussions on enhancing connectivity have been initiated. On that foundation, we are now seeking to take our economic cooperation to a qualitatively new level," she said.
Sushma Swaraj said that as both countries play a larger international role, "our contacts and dialogues must commensurately grow. As the two major civilizational powers of Asia, we should have confidence in each other, to build on our shared interests".
She said that a particularly significant new area of bilateral collaboration was in railways. This included heavy haulage, boosting speed and station development besides capacity building.
