Visiting Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji strongly condemned the terrorist attack on Indian parliament on December 13, last year, during his meeting with Ganti Mohanachandra Balayogi, speaker of Lok Sabha, the lower house of Indian parliament, here on Tuesday.
Zhu Rongji expressed support to the international struggle against terrorism as the two countries agreed to establish an anti-terrorist dialogue mechanism.
The premier conveyed cordial greetings from Li Peng, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China, who visited India early 1999.
Zhu, who arrived here on Sunday for a 6-day state visit, told Balayogi that he experienced the friendship of the Indian people to China during his stay in the neighboring country.
Sources in the Indian parliament said that Zhu emphasized the need for enhanced and direct contacts between the two countries at various levels particularly between parliaments of the two countries.
It was necessary for promoting deeper mutual understanding and cooperation, Zhu said, adding that the world's two most populated countries would gain substantially from each other's experiences.
Balayogi told the Chinese leader that India attached considerable importance to the development of a long-term cooperative relationship with China based on the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and mutual sensitivity and equality.
Prior to the meeting, Zhu Rongji met Najma Heptulla, deputy chairperson of Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Indian parliament, during which he expressed his thanks to Heptulla for her constructive contribution to the enhanced relationship between the parliaments of the two countries.
Zhu also met Sonia Gandhi, president of the Indian National Congress Party.
(Xinhua News Agency January 16, 2002)
