Friday, September 9 2005 14:08 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Beijing: India and China, the two fastest developing Asian giants, can together ensure that the world does not lose faith in humanity as taught by Mahatma Gandhi, visiting Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil said today (Sept 9, 2005).

"As the two largest developing countries in the world, the two most populous countries and two fastest growing economies in the world, China and India working together can ensure that the world does not lose faith in humanity for our two countries constitute almost 40 per cent of all humanity,"

Patil said after unveiling the first bust of the Father of the Indian Nation at the Chaoyang Park in the Chinese capital.

"The unveiling of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi is a high point of my present official visit to China as the Home Minister of India. This is a milestone that I will cherish," he said on the third day of his five-day official visit.

Quoting Mahatma Gandhi, Patil said Gandhi had 'urged us not to lose faith in humanity' for 'humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.'

He told the Indian and Chinese audience that Gandhi's message was not simply relevant for he people of India but was of universal importance then and even more so in today's complicated, complex, globalized world.

The Minister said Mahatma Gandhi wanted very much to visit China and his first contacts with the Chinese people were in Johannesburg in South Africa.

"The Mahatma had been invited to visit China. He had accepted the invitation but on account of internal situation in China he was advised by his host not to visit," Patil said.

"China was, however, never far from his mind and heart and he wrote that 'India and China are friends in distress'".

Patil was attending the function a day after having a fruitful meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and signing a key bilateral Memorandum of Understanding with his Chinese counterpart, Zhou Yongkang on security cooperation, including combating international terrorism.

"I come at a time when relations between our two countries have entered a new phase of comprehensive development and diversification. The message of the Mahatma is even more pertinent today than it was when both our countries were struggling for independence," he remarked.

"He wrote that he learnt to admire the thrift, industry, resourcefulness and internal unity of the Chinese people. These attributes are still very much present in today's China," he said.

Praising the famous Chinese artist, Professor Yuan Xikun, who designed and sculpted the first statue of the Mahatma in China, Patil said it was a fitting tribute that a Chinese person has taken the initiative to create a beautiful bust of the Father of the Indian Nation.

Patil, who also inaugurated a photo exhibition on the Mahatma, which offered a glimpse on his life and works, hoped that the Chinese people could have a better understanding of the great Indian leader through the works exhibited.