BEIJING, April 4 (UPI) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, on the eve of a visit that will take him to India, called Monday for a free-trade agreement with his southern neighbor.
"In order to move bilateral trade and economic ties to a new level, the establishment of a Free Trade Area has become a logical agenda item," he told the semi-official Press Trust of India in an interview.
Wen arrives in New Delhi Tuesday for a series of meetings with top Indian officials, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The trip comes amid warming Sino-Indian ties, which have been frigid since the two countries fought a war in 1962.
A free-trade zone, if agreed to, will cover more than one-third of the Earth's populations and bring together two of the world's fastest-growing economies. Trade between the two sides increased 13 times during the past 10 years and touched $13.6 billion last year.
The two nations are also influential members of the Group of 20 poorer nations.
Wen's first trip to South Asia also takes him to Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
