New Delhi:
The premiers of India and China committed on Thursday to doubling bilateral trade to $100 billion over the next five years and to redressing a growing trade imbalance now in Beijing's favour.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his visiting Chinese counterpart, Wen Jiabao, set the 2015 trade target during formal talks in New Delhi, which otherwise showed no apparent progress on a series of nagging bilateral disputes.
According to a joint communique, the two leaders also agreed to take measures to "promote greater Indian exports to China with a view to reduce India's trade deficit".
Trade between the world's two fastest-growing major economies totalled $42 billion last year and is expected to reach $60 billion in the current fiscal year to March -- with an estimated surplus of $20 billion in China's favour.
"There is enough space in the world for the development of both India and China and indeed, enough areas for India and China to cooperate," the communique said.