Beijing, Jan 16 (IANS): Despite their border row, India and China are "looking to deepen mutual trust" and the bilateral relationship, a Chinese daily said Wednesday.
China Daily also quoted a Chinese military leader as saying that Beijing was "committed to promoting the strategic partnership... with India".
The daily referred to the meeting this week in Beijing between Indian Defence Secretary Shashi Kant Sharma and Xu Qiliang, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission.
It quoted Xu as saying that China attached great importance to developing military ties with India and hoped to increase mutual strategic trust.
It added that State Councillor Dai Bingguo had delivered a letter from new Communist Party chief Xi Jinping to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, stating that India and China could grow together.
"China's latest interpretation of Sino-Indian ties, which is full of goodwill, has drawn much media attention in India," the daily said.
It added: "All these are positive signals that the two neighbours are now looking to deepen mutual trust and the bilateral relationship, which will contribute to regional peace and development.
"As two big countries with a rising clout in global and regional platforms, how Beijing and New Delhi interact with each other always attracts wide attention.
"Some in the world arena tend to deem the two most populous countries in the world as potential rivals.
"Their unsettled border issue, skirmishes over trade and lack of mutual understanding keep each other apart from time to time," it said.
It said the past 10 years had seen the bilateral trade volume rise from about $3 billion to $80 billion. China is now India's biggest trading partner, while India is China's biggest trading partner in South Asia.
The two countries are working to increase bilateral trade to $100 billion in 2015.
"Obviously, cooperation in trade has become the cornerstone of Sino-Indian ties," the China Daily said.
"Beijing and New Delhi have every reason to continue to build on the current desirable momentum, as it will help deepen mutual trust and lay a solid foundation for solving other thorny issues between them."