"The fact is that when India and China, representing more than two and half billion people, speak in one voice, the world listens," Singh said at the banquet hosted in honour of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.
Singh underlined that both India and China have a mutual stake in each other's progress and prosperity and told Wen that people of India have admired the Chinese people for the rapid strides made in all fields. "Let us pledge to work sincerely for the rapid development of our ties in the second decade of this century for the common good of the region," he said.
"Our relationship has transcended the bilateral dimension and has assumed global and strategic significance. The growing inter-dependence of nations provides both the opportunity and the obligation for India and China to cooperate together to meet the challenges facing the international community," he added.
The PM noted that India-China relations have achieved "a high degree of maturity that serves the interest of our two peoples". As the Asian century unfolds, "we must work together to bring peace, stability and development to our peoples, to the region and to the world at large," he said, adding India stands ready to play its part in "this important and noble enterprise".
Describing Wen as a "friend of India and the architect of the India-China strategic and cooperative partnership" established in 2005, Singh said that since the Chinese PM's last visit to India five years back, the world has witnessed significant changes and India has been engaged in the task of socio-economic transformation.
