China, India should remain friends forever: Chinese premier

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Monday hoped that China and India could live together in harmony, remain friends forever and shelve differences to secure win-win results.

In his keynote address at a commemorative rally to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of Panchsheel principles at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wen noted that the heads of states of the two countries have exchanged congratulatory messages on the occasion, reaffirming their resolve to step up bilateral ties based on Panchsheel.

"In their messages, the two sides reaffirmed commitment to the five principles of peaceful co-existence and expressed resolve to expand and deepen the long-term constructive and cooperative partnership," he said.

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"I am confident that with the concerted efforts of the two sides, the annals of China-India friendship and cooperation will be added with brilliant new chapters," he said at the function, attended by ambassadors and former Chinese diplomats.

Panchsheel, jointly initiated by former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and his Chinese counterpart Zhou Enlai on June 28, 1954, includes mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit and peaceful co-existence.