Shanghai: Defence Minister George Fernandes on April 27 said his first-ever visit to China has helped in charting out a new road map for friendly relations with India's most important neighbour, with both sides caring for each other's concerns and sensitivities.

"It was a visit that has enabled us to appreciate each other's concerns and also each other's sensitivities and take the forward steps. I found that there is tremendous love for India (in China)," Fernandes said in an exclusive interview in the gleaming east Chinese metropolis.

Summing up his impressions on the week-long official visit to China, the first by an Indian Defence Minister since 1992, Fernandes, well- known for his anti-China comments before and after the 1998 nuclear tests, appeared to have taken a positive and pragmatic policy approach in New Delhi's relations with Beijing.

"The important thing is the sincerity on both sides to take forward steps and this is one of the major outcomes of our discussions," Fernandes said.

"I noticed a genuine desire to build greater friendship with India and also to remove whatever obstructs such friendship with the acknowledgement that resolving some of the issues will take a little time," he said.

Fernandes had separate meetings with the chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) Jiang Zemin, Premier Wen Jiabao, CMC vice chairman general Guo Boxiong, Defence Minister general Cao Gangchuan and Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing.

The Defence Minister was also taken into several Chinese military establishments and a new Chinese frigate and explained the various functions of the 2.5-million-strong Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), which is the world's largest standing Army.

The highlight of Fernandes' trip to China was his meeting on April 26 with China's top leader and the chairman of the CMC Jiang Zemin, with whom he exchanged views on ways to enhance bilateral ties, especially mutually-beneficial military-to-military relations.

Jiang, who was Chinese President and general secretary of the ruling Communist Party till last month, said that the peoples of China and India enjoy long-term friendship and exchanges and co-operation between the two countries in all fields have showed good momentum in recent years.

Jiang recalled his first visit to India in 1996 and pointed out that during that visit the leaders of the two countries decided to develop a '21st Century-oriented constructive and co-operative relationship', thus guiding the growth of bilateral ties in the new Century.

"As China and India are the two largest developing nations and also neighbours, to develop bilateral relations is in the fundamental interest of the two countries," Jiang told Fernandes during an hour-long meeting.

"I was moved by the personal touch that chairman Jiang Zemin got to bear on our discussions. His vision for China and India, overcoming the irritants and working together, for the betterment of our two countries and also for stability in our region and in the world," Fernandes said while commenting on his first encounter with Jiang.

"He (Jiang) did not leave anything more to be desired," Fernandes said.

Recalling his meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in Beijing, Fernandes said Wen put Sino-Indian relations in a "picturesque manner", when he said that for over "99.9 per cent of the time, India and China had friendly co-operation and that only 0.1 per cent of the time we have had misunderstanding.

Therefore, Wen stressed that China and India should build on that 99.9 per cent and identify the complementarities in matters economic and other sectors, Fernandes quoted the Chinese premier as saying.

Concurring with Wen's views, Fernandes stressed the thrust of future India-China relations should be to expand bilateral trade and commerce, cultural exchanges, sports and involving greater interaction between the two armed forces. "This is going to be the route to resolving our problems."

On his discussions with senior Chinese leaders, Fernandes said he exchanged views on national security, terrorism and ways to enhance military-to-military ties.

He told the Chinese leaders that terrorist activities are creating dangerous situations right across the globe and countries are getting destabilised.

"I was happy to note that there was appreciation of the havoc that terrorism has caused. We need to tackle it not only through the instrument of the global coalition but also jointly by our two countries," Fernandes said.

On matters of defence, he said the two sides discussed the issue of greater interaction between the two armed forces.

"There have been comings and goings, but the idea was that we should expand this interface between the armed forces of both sides," he said.

"So we are going back (to India) with a deep sense of satisfaction and the conviction that this visit will be the beginning of drawing a road map for the near future."

PTI