Monday, April 11 2005 10:58 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Observing that a "bridge of friendship" was being laid between India and his country, visiting Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao today (Apr 11, 2005) said that the two nations have agreed on a five-year plan for comprehensive cooperation in economy and trade to promote bilateral ties.

He said that the two countries had decided on inking an agreement on guiding principles of settlement of boundary question.

"This is a very important visit in the history of our relations and I am sure this visit will certainly continue to promote friendly ties and cooperation between our two countries," Wen, who is here on a four-day visit, told reporters after being accorded a ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

With Prime Minister Manmohan Singh standing beside him, the Chinese Premier expressed confidence that "we will be able to bring even closer our partnership".

"We are going to agree on guiding principles of settlement of the India-China boundary question," Wen said.

He said that the two countries were set to release a five-year plan for comprehensive economic cooperation and trade.

"We are going to put in place a bridge of friendship linking our two countries, a bridge that will lead both of us to the future," said Wen who arrived in India on Saturday (Apr 9, 2005) and reached New Delhi yesterday (Apr 10, 2005) after a daylong stay in Bangalore.

The two countries, in an effort to resolve the boundary issue, have agreed on a three-tier process, comprising an accord on the guiding principles at the first stage, agreed framework in the second and actual delineation of the border in the third.

The decision on signing agreement on political parameters and guiding principles to resolve the vexed boundary issue was reached in talks between Special Representatives of the two countries M K Narayanan and Dai Bingguo in Delhi yesterday.

The spadework for the "political Guiding Principles", done during last month's meeting between Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran and his Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei in Beijing, would enable the two countries to resolve the boundary issue in a mutually acceptable manner, official sources said.

After his meeting with Dai, China's Executive Vice Foreign Minister, National Security Adviser Narayanan said yesterday that the document on guiding principles "showed a lot of give and take on both sides".

He expressed hope that the document would be "a major starting point in the settlement of the boundary dispute between India and China."