India, China key players: Nirmala
GU WA HAT I: Stressing on the importance of both countries in global affairs, defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday stated both India and China should compete, but avoid conflict.
“We need to compete, but it should never end up in conflict,” Sitharaman said at Arunachal Pradesh capital Itanagar while delivering a talk on ‘Towards Bridging the Indo-China Relationship for an Emerging Asia’ as part of the 7th Late Rutum Kango Memorial Lecture.
The minister said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s principle of five ‘S’s—‘Samman’ (Respect), ‘Samvad’ (Dialogue), ‘Sahyog’ (Cooperation) and ‘Shanti’ (Peace) can usher ‘Samriddhi’ (Prosperity) for the two Asian giants. Sitharaman added that India and China were both leyplayers who are at the centre stage of all global developments and issues and since relations between the two have direct and indomitable impact on everything global, therefore it (the relationship) will have to be good.
“Today we both can’t deny each other’s significance and dominance, especially in Asia and South East Asia. Need of the hour is to cooperate with each other, resolve issues through dialogue and progress together,” she said.
The Union minister further highlighted that through dialogues and meetings at the highest levels, a mechanism has been put in place to resolve all issues in the nip and advocated confidence and trust building measures at all levels.