India for stable and cooperative relationship with China

External Affairs Minister SM Krishna has said that India's a key foreign policy priority is to invest in building a stable and cooperative relationship with China which will be a source of stability and prosperity in the region.

Krishna, who is in New York to participate in the UN General Assembly session, said a stable and secure Asia, Indian Ocean and the Pacific region is a key requirement of India's own security and prosperity in the 21st century.

"We will continue to invest in building a stable and cooperative relationship with China that is mutually beneficial, and also a source of regional stability and prosperity," he said in his lecture titled 'India's Foreign Policy Priorities for the 21st Century' at Rhode Island's prestigious Ivy league institution Brown University on Friday.

He cautioned that Asia's extraordinary accomplishments in the last few decades could be reversed if "great power rivalry, national chauvinism and arms race" take hold of the region.

"India is determined to avoid such an outcome by contributing actively to the deeper economic integration of the region and construction of a stable and inclusive political and security order for Asia and the Pacific."

On India's relations with the US, Krishna said as new Delhi looks at its foreign policy priorities in the decades ahead, it sees convergence of interests with the US as well as a strong partnership in achieving the shared goals.

Terming US an "important partner" in India's development efforts, Krishna said the success of the bilateral partnership would not only contribute to the prosperity of the two nations, but would be a model of international partnership and a factor of global and regional peace, security and stability.

"For India, it will remain a relationship of great priority and importance in the 21st century," he said.