Relations between the two have been less than warm
The first ever direct commercial flight between India and China landed in
Delhi on Thursday. The China Eastern Airlines flight, carrying carried 100
passengers including senior officials. was hailed as a milestone in improving
relations between the former rivals. Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh is
due to leave for China on the same plane on Friday. The direct air link is
expected to boost trade links between the two Asian giants. The Indian
foreign minister will also visit South Korea and Burma. New link "It is a big
event in the history of the relations between the two countries," Chinese
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said. "We hope that this air link
can serve as a bond connecting the two peoples in a bond of friendship," she
added. China Eastern Airlines is operating a twice-a-week flight connecting
Beijing and Shanghai with Delhi, using an Airbus 340 aircraft. Bao Peide, a
senior official with China's Civil Aviation Administration said India was a
new destination for his country's aviation industry. "We are not quite
familiar with Indian airspace but we've fully prepared for this flight and
we're confident of doing a good job," he said. Uneasy ties Relations between
the two countries have been less than warm, especially because of China's
proximity to India's long-time rival, Pakistan. China and India fought a
bitter border war in 1962 and since then have viewed each other with
suspicion. But recently, growing business interests have helped break the
ice. Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji visited India in January and said then that
his country was committed to forging closer economic ties. Total trade
between India and China stands at about $3bn and the prime minister said the
two countries would aim to increase it to $10bn this year. China and India
are both touted as economic superpowers of the future, and there is plenty of
scope for co-operation between them. For example China believes it can draw
on India's vast reservoir of trained computer scientists to develop the
software side of its information technology sector.
Leo/ORD