India will compete with China in commerce, trade: Modi

New York, May 7, 2015: Even as it cooperates with China on the international stage, India will also compete with it in the areas of commerce and trade, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said. The prime minister also told the Time magazine in an interview that both countries had learnt from history since their 1962 war. "Since nearly last three decades until this time that we have entered into the 21st century, there is by and large peace and tranquillity on the India-China border," he said. "It is not a volatile border. Not a single bullet has been fired for over a quarter of a century now. This essentially goes to prove that both countries have learnt from history." Modi admitted that a large part of the long Sino-Indian border was still disputed. "Still, I think both countries have shown great maturity in the last couple of decades to ensure and commit to economic cooperation which has continued to grow over the last 20 to 30 years to a stage where we currently have an extensive trade, investment and project related engagement between the two countries. "Given the current economic situation in the world, we are at a stage where we cooperate with China at the international stage but we also compete with China when it comes to commerce and trade." Asked to comment on China's growing influence in the world, Modi said: "I firmly believe that there is not a single country in the world, whether its population is one million or much more, which would not want to increase its influence internationally.