Indian President Kocheril Raman Narayanan said in New Delhi on Monday that relations between New Delhi and Beijing had been further developed by his visit to China last year and the recent visit by Li Peng, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China.

In his opening address to the budget session of the parliament which began this morning, the president said his country was " committed to friendly and good-neighbourly ties with China based on Panchsheel (Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence) and mutual sensitivity to each other's mutual concern".

He said that New Delhi would promote an external network of peaceful and friendly relations with other countries to enable it to focus on internal task of nation building.

India's foreign policy, resting on a strong foundation of continuity and national consensus, had responded creatively to the changing global scenario, Narayanan told the members of the parliament.

"The principal trust of our foreign policy is to promote an external network of peaceful and friendly relations which would enable us to focus on our internal task of nation building," he said.

Central to this objective was New Delhi's consistent pursuit of friendly relations with all its neighbors, Narayanan said, adding that "indeed, our ties with all of them, barring Pakistan, have continued to grow both in substance and in scope".

He accused Pakistan of not reciprocating India's sincerity for resumption of the stalled dialogue process to normalize relations, saying the Indian government was pursuing a multi-pronged strategy to bring peace and normalcy in the disputed Kashmir.

"There has been no let-up in, much less an end to, cross-border terrorism and vicious anti-India propaganda, originating from Pakistani soil," the president told the participants who began their deliberations of the annual budget beginning from April 1, this year, and the tenth five-year plan which begins in 2003.

However, he made it clear that should Pakistan create an atmosphere for meaningful talks, India would be more than ready to resume the dialogue process.

"The international community is beginning to recognize that a resurgent India -- peace loving, prosperous and strong -- is a reliable factor for peace, stability and balance in Asia and in the world," he said.

Narayanan stated that his country shared an intimate relationship with Nepal and this would continue despite efforts by vested interests in recent times to hinder it.

New Delhi has a strong interest in the progress on Bhutan and Maldives, he added, expressing his hope that peace would soon return to the troubled land of Afghanistan so that its people could shape their own destiny free from external interference and religious extremism.

Improvement of infrastructure links had also been a focus of India's bilateral cooperation with its neighbors, Narayanan said, adding a third broad gauge rail link with Bangladesh had been restored, which further promoted close people-to-people relations.

Implementation of the India-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement was expected to significantly increase economic linkages between the two neighbors.

India valued its relations with all countries in the West Asia and Gulf regions and New Delhi was deeply concerned with the stalemate in the Middle East peace process and the excessive use of force and the recent violence.

India's time-tested friendship with Russia attained a high point during the visit by President Vladimir Putin last October during which the two sides signed a Declaration on Strategic Partnership and charted out a detailed roadmap for stronger Indo-Russia ties in the new century.

Former United States President Bill Clinton's trip to India and Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's visit to the US last year had laid a firm foundation for the Indo-US relations.

New Delhi would continue to engage with the Bush Administration to foster a stronger and mutually beneficial bilateral relationship, Narayanan added.

The Indian government was confident that India's warm relations with Britain, France, Germany, Italy and other European countries would continue to acquire new dimensions.

He underlined the importance of the potential for closer cooperation offered by Indian Ocean Rim with southern and eastern Africa.

(Xinhua 02/19/2001)