Visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (L) shakes hands with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh during their meeting in New Delhi, capital of India, on April 11, 2005.

Visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao held talks with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday for about three hours, which resulted in signing a joint statement of the two governments and declaring the establishment of strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries for peace and prosperity.

The two leaders reached common views on expanding friendly and mutually-beneficial cooperation in a wide-range of fields between the two countries.

The two governments also signed an agreement on political guiding principles for solving the border issue between China and India.

During the talks, Singh, expressing a warm welcome to Wen, said Wen's visit, which is made at a time when the two countries are celebrating the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, is a milestone in the bilateral relationship.

Developing relations with China is a most important part of India's diplomacy as India deals with India-China relationship not only from the perspective of bilateral relations, but also from the regional and world perspective, the Indian prime minister said.

He said promotion of exchanges and cooperation between India and China is not only the common view of people from all walks of life in India, but also the practical requirement for ensuring national development and people's welfare of India.

During the talks, Wen Jiabao put forward a six-point proposal:

-- Political clarification of the status of relations to push the relations to a new high;

-- Widening exchanges and coordinating and cooperating closely;

-- Deepening economic and trade cooperation to seek mutual benefits;

-- Expanding cultural and people-to-people exchanges;

-- Establishing mutual trust in security to promote regional cooperation; and

-- Speeding up the negotiations on border demarcation to ensure the safety of border areas.

Agreeing with Wen's proposal, Singh said that widening exchanges and deepening cooperation is the common desire of the two countries, adding that India is willing to work together with China to make the India-China border as a link of peace and friendship.

The two leaders also exchanged views on the situation in South Asia, with the Chinese premier welcoming the efforts by India and Pakistan to improve their relations. Wen said that China is not seeking any interests for its own in South Asia and that China's promotion of relations with South Asian nations is not against any third party. He added that China will play a constructive role in promoting peace and development in South Asia.

The two leaders attended the signing ceremony of a number of agreements on cooperation in the fields including finance and civil aviation after the their talks.