(Translation)

H.E. Manmohan Singh       
Prime Minister of the Republic of India
New Delhi

Your Excellency,

   On the occasion of beginning of the "Year of China-India Friendship", I wish to extend, on behalf of the Chinese Government and in my own name, our warm congratulations and best wishes to you and the Indian Government.

   China and India are friendly neighboring countries and record a long history of friendly exchanges between our two peoples. Since the establishment of our diplomatic ties, the friendly cooperative relations between China and India have been continuously moved forward. Especially in recent years, China-India relations have made outstanding progress. During my visit to your country in April 2005, I jointly signed with your Excellency the Joint Statement of China-India, announcing the establishment of a Strategic and Cooperative Partnership for Peace and Prosperity between our two countries, and declaring the year 2006 as the "Year of China-India Friendship". China-India relations are faced with important opportunities for development.

   The Chinese Government firmly pursues the policy of developing long-term, stable, good-neighborly and cooperative relations with India. The Chinese side is ready to work closely with the Indian side, by jointly holding celebrating activities of the China-India Friendship Year, to further expand friendly exchanges, strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation, and continuously enrich the contents of the strategic and cooperative partnership between our two countries.

    May the friendship between the peoples of China and India everlasting.

 Wen Jiabao
Premier of the State Council of
The People's Republic of China
Beijing, 1 January 2006