India and China should comprehensively resolve challenges including the boundary question through “political acumen” and “civilisational wisdom” so that the coming generations are not “burdened” by unresolved issues, President Pranab Mukherjee said today.

Enunciating “8 steps to a partnership of the people” for India-China relations in his address to Peking University, he noted that there is bipartisan commitment to strengthening the partnership with China, and said political understanding between the two countries is vital for “closer developmental partnership”.

“One of the ways it could be done is through enhanced political communication. In India, we have a bipartisan commitment to strengthening our partnership with China. The frequent contact between our respective leaders bears testimony to this.

“We have broadened the ‘common ground’ and learnt to manage our differences. There are challenges — including the boundary question — that still need to be addressed comprehensively,” he said.

Making his first state visit to China as head of state, Mukherjee said while it was natural for neighbours to have differences of views on certain issues from time to time, “I consider it a test of our political acumen when we are called upon to draw on our civilisational wisdom and resolve these differences to the mutual satisfaction of both sides”.

“Both sides should work with the aim of ensuring that we do not burden our coming generations by leaving our unresolved problems to them. I am confident that by ensuring that these matters are not aggravated and by remaining sensitive to mutual concerns, we can minimise our differences and maximise our convergences,” he said.

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