New Delhi/Beijing December 17
"The dragon and the elephant should tango," Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao suggested today. He came up with this quip to emphasise the need for the two Asian giants, whose rivalry has been compared to that between the dragon (China) and elephant (India), to come closer. He told a group of editors and scholars before leaving for Pakistan, "The dragon and the elephant should tango and that should become the consensus between the two countries."

India and China were partners in cooperation and not rivals, he said. Wen had words of appreciation for his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh, describing him as a person "with an open and inclusive mind".

The Chinese leader mentioned that Cambridge University had brought out a publication containing speeches by him and Singh whose common theme was the importance of open and inclusive societies. He distributed copies of that publication with his autograph to those present at the interaction.

Wen mentioned that the Indian Prime Minister had last year sent him a gift of black tea and in return he had sent Chinese white tea. "That reminds me of how our two countries connect with each other."

Meanwhile, China's official media and think tanks projected a positive view of Premier Wen Jiabao's just-concluded India visit, skipping any mention of the omission of references to Tibet and Taiwan in the joint statement.

In some ways, Wen's visit to India is like no other in the recent years in terms of positive coverage it generated occupying prime space in the state-run television and print media, according to analysts.

The Chinese think tanks also sought to insist that the trip was aimed at 'clarifying' Beijing's readiness to pursue a policy of addressing mutual concerns.

"Trade target set at $100 billion" is the banner headline in the official China Daily which devoted two pages to exclusive coverage of developments related to Wen's visit as well as success stories of Indians settled in Beijing. The daily Global Times headlined its front page story “Sino-Indian ties hailed”, while People's Daily, the official newspaper of the ruling Communist Party of China, featured its story saying "Chinese premier, Indian PM reach consensus on bilateral, international issues".

Conspicuously, the media omitted any references to the omission of Tibet and the Taiwan issue reaffirming the one-China policy, which figures routinely in every international document.

The two issues that figured in the 2005 joint statement of Wen's visit were absent this time, as New Delhi insisted that China shows reciprocity in India's core concerns relating to the Kashmir issue.