Premier Wen Jiabao yesterday sought to heal rifts with India over long-running economic and political tensions, promising to give greater consideration to a controversial dam project near the disputed border and agreeing on an ambitious US$100 billion trade target by 2015.
Wen, making the first visit by a Chinese premier to India in five years, exchanged views with his counterpart Dr Manmohan Singh on a series of sensitive issues that have long troubled one of the most important regional ties.
'As two neighbouring big nations, with different history, cultural and social systems, having conflicts and differences is only normal. Sino-Indian relations have seen major ups and downs ... but this is only a short page in our history,' Wen said in a 30-minute speech at India's top foreign affairs think tank.
'We'll face up to history, but look to the future.'
He offered the highest-level explanation so far from Beijing on the country's planned damming of the Yarlung Zangbo River, which has become a flashpoint between two countries whose ties have been dogged by economic, political and territorial disputes. 'China cares about India's concerns,' Wen said. 'Anything we can do, we will do it. And we will do it better.'
Xinhua reported last month that engineers had blocked the middle reaches of the world's highest river, paving the way for construction of the first dam on the waterway, which originates in the Tibetan plateau and flows into India as the Brahmaputra.
New Delhi fears the dam will affect its water supply and destroy the ecological balance in the Himalayan region.
