India for cooperation and competition with China

via CAAI

2010-09-08

As President Pratibha Patil begins a ten-day tour to Laos and Cambodia, India Wednesday sought to downplay rivalry with China in Southeast Asia saying there is 'place for competition as well as cooperation' in the region.

Patil begins the first leg of her tour Thursday with a state visit to Laos. This will be the first visit by Patil to Laos and only the first by an Indian president to that country in more than five decades.

In Vientiane, the capital of Laos, Patil will hold talks with President Choummaly Sayasone and Prime Minister Bouason Bouphavanh on a range of bilateral issues, including economic and cultural ties.

Patil will leave for Cambodia Sep 13. She will meet the King of Cambodia Norodom Sihamoni and go to Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, home to the famous temples of Angkor Wat. In Cambodia, the two sides will seek to take forward their economic and energy ties.

India's ONGC Videsh has already inked an agreement for oil exploration with Cambodia. There is further scope for cooperation in this area, Vijaya Latha Reddy, secretary (East) in the external affairs ministry, told reporters here.

When asked about China's growing influence in Laos and Cambodia, Reddy said: 'As the prime minister said, there is place for competition as well as cooperation.'

The president's forthcoming visit to Laos and Cambodia and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Vietnam to attend India-ASEAN summit in October are aimed at giving renewed momentum to India's multi-faceted ties with Southeast Asia and also to counter Beijing's growing ascendancy in the region.

Many Southeast Asian countries are looking at India, another rising Asian power and a pluralist democracy, to create some balance against perceived attempt by Beijing to establish Chinese hegemony in the region.

With an eye on China's growing assertiveness in the region, Manmohan Singh will also be going to Japan and Malaysia in October for bilateral visits next month.

Interacting with senior journalists Monday, Manmohan Singh aired India's apprehensions about Beijing seeking to expand its influence in South Asia and gain a 'foothold' in the region.

Relations between the two Asian powers continued to be a mix of competition and cooperation, the prime minister had said while speaking about the state of India-China relations after Beijing denied visa to a senior Indian Army General on grounds that his command included Jammu and Kashmir.