Two days before Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao arrives in the capital, China today said Sino-India relations were "very fragile" and required special care, to which India responded by affirming that its approach was "very rational".
Wen lands on Wednesday along with the biggest ever delegation of 400 businessmen, senior ministers and officials for the three-day visit, which Beijing has described as a "big event."
Addressing a conference, Chinese Ambassador to India Zhang Yan said, "China-India relations are very fragile, can be damaged easily and very difficult to repair. Therefore, they need special care in the information age."
"To achieve this, the government should provide guidance to the public to avoid a war of words," Zhang said, adding that his country views India's rise as "positive" and an "opportunity" to China.
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, who was present at the conference, sought to address the feelings of the Chinese envoy, by telling him that India has a "very commonsensical" and "rational" approach to China. Besides helping to ease some of the irritants that has cropped up in the past one year, between the two countries, the visit is expected to provide further impetus to the multi-faceted bilateral ties.
The Chinese Premier will hold discussions with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh on a host of security and strategic issues, including issuance of stapled visa by China to residents of Jammu and Kashmir, greater market access for Indian goods and UN reforms. They will also hold wide-ranging discussions on bilateral, global and regional issues, and sign a number of agreements and MoUs, External Affairs ministry spokesperson Vishnu Prakash said.
Activities of Chinese firms in Pakistan-occupied- Kashmir, increasing military sales to Pakistan and China- Pak civil nuclear co-operation are some of the Indian concerns that will be raised during the visit. India has been maintaining that it was engaged with all its interlocutors, including China, over its concerns on terrorism which emanates from this country's neighbourhood.
Noting that India was in touch with Chinese side on the growing trade imbalance, Prakash said efforts were also underway to have better market access for Indian products such as IT services and agricultural farm products.
