DHAKA: Indian foreign minister Salman Khurshid is optimistic about future relations with fellow Asian power China, with Delhi viewing Beijing as ‘rivals who are also partners’.

But in an interview with The Australian newspaper published on Monday, Khurshid said a festering Himalayan border dispute between the two giant neighbours remained a key area of concern, reports The Straits Times.

India and China, the world’s two most populous countries, have had a sometimes-fraught historical relationship given their contrasting political systems and specific geo-strategic interests, but Khurshid said he was confident of moving forward.

Asked if they were not destined to be rivals, he replied, ‘Yes, I think that’s to some extent inevitable, although it’s much more complex than that, of course’.

BDST: 1731 HRS, NOV 11, 2013
RoR/JCK