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As Premier Li Keqiang left Beijing for India, China on Sunday said that if the two Asian giants "tango" together, the BRICS grouping would get a boost and efforts to safeguard the rights of developing countries strengthened.
In its second commentary in as many days, state-run news agency Xinhua said Li headed for India tour, his first after he took over as premier and weeks after the meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Durban on the sidelines of the BRICS summit held in March.
"Such a short time interval in top-level contacts between the two Asian giants gives the impression the Chinese dragon and the Indian elephant are about to tango toward better ties and closer cooperation. And such a prospect would also bring extra glamour to multilateral frameworks such as BRICS, in which China and India are major players," it said.
"Visionary leaders in both countries have realised the world has sufficient room for the development of China and India, and the two neighbours share vast common interests, despite their lingering border issues and the much-hyped China-India rivalry for regional primacy," it said in the commentary titled 'Closer ties between China, India to add extra glamour to BRICS'.
The commentary came just after Li left for New Delhi for a three-day visit Sunday morning. Premier Li's visit to India is at the invitation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
"As much of the developed world is occupied with economic woes, BRICS, the grouping of five leading emerging economies -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- is now in a unique position to push for greater say for developing countries in global economic governance.
"A stronger partnership between China and India, both boasting amazing economic records in recent years, will give the BRICS a powerful thrust toward a more prominent role," it said.
"And BRICS, which has already made headway in bringing positive changes to the existing global order, will definitely shine brighter if New Delhi reciprocates Beijing's latest initiative for closer ties," the report said.
Terming China and India as "champions" of the rights of developing countries, the report said it was the same yearning for independence and national revival across the developing world that brought the two giant neighbours together.
"Since then the two countries have always been seen as champions for developing nations in issues such as poverty reduction, food and energy security, and climate change amid other significant global issues," it said.
"Now hailed as the world's factory and world's back-office, respectively, China and India have much more to offer in changing the global economic landscape and securing more rights for developing nations," it said.
"It is natural that when other developing countries hope to see their due rights safeguarded and their global status elevated, they often look to China and India for substantial support," it said.
"This is the larger reason why the two countries should increase their mutual trust, expand their cooperation and strengthen their coordination".
In a similar commentary, Xinhua on Saturday said it is difficult for the two countries to restore mutual trust without resolving border dispute but mistrust could gradually be reduced.
"To be honest, the two nations cannot fully restore mutual trust without resolving the border dispute, a complex issue that might linger for a while," it said.
"However, the level of mistrust could be gradually reduced with good faith in each other's strategic intentions. China adheres to the five principles of peaceful coexistence in its foreign policy, and has never sought to enhance ties with any other country at the expense of its relationship with India," it said.
Image: Reuters