China and India
China and India should forge ahead with cooperation in finance, agriculture, science, technology, forestry and environmental protection, said Chinese President Hu Jintao while meeting with visiting Indian President Pratibha Patil in Beijing on May 27.
The two governments, he added, should create a more flexible environment for companies to make investment and contract construction projects in each other's countries.
Both countries should oppose protectionism based on the principles of openness and mutual benefit, Hu said.
Hu and Patil also agreed that the two neighbors would increase cultural and educational exchanges as well as exchanges between the two countries with respect to media outlets, young people and nongovernmental organizations.
Patil paid a state visit to China from May 26 to 31 amid celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and India.
Apart from meeting with Chinese leaders in Beijing, Patil visited the World Expo in Shanghai. She also attended the inauguration ceremony of a Buddhist building of Indian style in the White Horse Temple in Luoyang in central China's Henan Province.
Israeli Raid Condemned
China condemned a May 31 raid on an international convoy ferrying activists and humanitarian aid to Gaza by Israeli commandos.
China was shocked at the Israeli naval attack on the aid flotilla and condemned the act, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said in a statement released the same day.
Beijing urges Israel to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza in keeping with UN Security Council resolutions, he added.
Israeli forces attacked the six-ship flotilla to prevent it from reaching Gaza, killing at least 10 and wounding more than 30 others aboard, including Turkish activists.
Israel has imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip since the Islamic Hamas movement seized control of the region by force in June 2007.
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