BEIJING, April 24: Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes, who once irked China by branding it India’s main threat, has called for greater cooperation to foster friendship during a week-long visit.

Mr Fernandes, the most senior Indian defence official to visit China in more than a decade, is visiting until April 27 in the hope of pushing forward a slow moving rapprochement with Beijing.

“I hope that we can evolve a framework whereby there will be much greater contact, confidence-building and cooperation between our two armed forces in a mutually acceptable manner and thus raise our friendliness to a higher level,” the minister told the National Defence University in Beijing this week.

“China’s national interest is better served by fostering this spirit of amity and friendship among us,” Fernandes said. A copy of his speech was seen on Thursday.

In April 1998, Mr Fernandes had angered China when he said India had focused on the threat from Pakistan while ignoring the equal danger posed by China.

A month later, India conducted a series of underground nuclear explosions, citing regional threats.

The visit “could further understanding and trust and reduce misgivings”, Sun Shihai, an expert on India at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a government think tank, said in an interview on Thursday.

“India has not totally eliminated its mentality that the enemy’s friend is an enemy,” Mr Sun said, referring to China’s good relations with Pakistan.—Reuters