K. Natwar Singh

NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh has called for discarding old mindsets that saw a conflict of interests between India and China, saying trust between the two held the key to peace and security in Asia.

Singh was confident that India and China would be partners, not adversaries, in what promises to be an Asian century.

“Both India and China are aware that trust and cooperation between them are one of the most crucial elements that make our region and Asia a vibrant and energetic fulcrum for growth,” Singh said.

He was inaugurating the three-day 7th Asian Security Conference organized by the Institute of Defense Studies and Analyses (IDSA), a Delhi-based think tank, on Jan. 27. Over 50 defense analysts and strategy experts from India and abroad participated in the conference titled ‘Changing Security Dynamics in Eastern Asia.’

Singh said: “Despite the difference on the boundary issue, our 3,400-km-long border with China has largely remained tranquil over the last 25 years. This is by no means a minor achievement and should be enough to silence those who look at India-China relations from an adversarial prism.”

He also cited an incremental progress in trade between the two countries from a few hundred million dollars in the early 1990s to $13 billion last year.

Japan figures prominently in discussions at the security conference.

Alluding to relationship with Japan as an anchor in the extensive interaction with East Asia, Singh said: “Our relations are based on the firmly based recognition that both countries are legitimate candidates for the permanent membership of the U.N. Security Council.”

Imparting a renewed impetus to India’s Look East policy, Singh reiterated Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s promise at the third India-ASEAN summit in November to build a durable partnership with ASEAN countries.

The minister also unfurled the vision of an Asian economic community encompassing ASEAN, South Korea, Japan, China and India –– “the five pillars which may form the initial core to drive Asia’s emergence as the center of gravity of the global economy.”

Addressing a special session at the conference on Jan. 28, Japan’s former defense minister Shigery Ishiba described India as an “invaluable ally” of his country in both economic and strategic terms.

“The recent increase in interaction between the defense forces of India and Japan shows a consolidation of the ties. India and Japan have to work as closely as possible for peace and prosperity in Asia.” Supporting India’s candidature for permanent membership of the U.N. Security Council, Ishiba, who is also chairperson of the committee on defense policy issues in the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) that is a key constituent of the ruling coalition, said: “Japan, along with India, must occupy a more responsible position in the U.N.”