It is good to see China and India have seized the opportunity of Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid's visit to send a positive signal to the outside world that the two giant neighbors are committed to building a new -type of relationship between major countries and they intend to properly handle their differences.

Khurshid's two-day visit to Beijing, which concluded on Friday, has drawn attention as it took place just after the two countries ended a standoff in the western section of the border they share.

That the much-hyped border incident was solved so quickly indicates the two neighbors are getting more mature in handling their differences. It also shows both Beijing and New Delhi now highly value the larger picture of the overall positive trend in their ties, as well as the huge opportunities and benefits their cooperation offers both and the region at large.

There is great potential to be tapped from better ties between them, and they are also expected to coordinate more in regional and world affairs as well as safeguard the interests of the developing world.

In his meeting with Khurshid on Friday, Premier Li Keqiang said China-India relations have strategic significance and a global impact. Li also expressed the hope that the two countries make more progress in expanding cooperation and injecting new vitality into the economies of Asia and the world.

Li's remarks provide a prism for others to view China-India ties in a positive light. While Western media tend to cast the ties in the light of strategic rivalry, Beijing and New Delhi are arguably showing a greater political will to deepen their reciprocal interaction.

Khurshid's visit is expected to lift the curtain on further high-level exchanges between the two sides.

The new Chinese leadership has declared that it regards ties with India as one of Beijing's most important foreign relations.

Both Beijing and New Delhi are at a new starting point and by inputting positive energy into their interactions they can lift ties to an even higher level.

And as long as they continue to deepen mutual trust and cope with their differences in a constructive manner, they will prove to the outside world that the much hyped "Dragon-Elephant" rivalry is nothing but a figment of the imagination.

(China Daily 05/13/2013 page8)