Dragon and elephant should tango: China's Wen Jiabao

"The dragon and the elephant should tango," Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao suggested today.

Wen came up with this quip to emphasise the need for the two Asian giants, whose rivalry has been compared to that between the dragon (China) and elephant (India), to come closer.

He told a group of editors and scholars before leaving for Pakistan, "the dragon and the elephant should tango and that should become the consensus between the two countries."

India and China were partners in cooperation and not rivals, he said.

Wen had warm words of appreciation for his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh describing him as a person "with an open and inclusive mind".

The Chinese leader mentioned that the Cambridge University had brought out a publication containing speeches by him and Singh whose common theme was the importance of open and inclusive societies.

He distributed copies of that publication with his autograph to those present at the interaction.

Wen mentioned that the Prime Minister had last year sent him a gift package of black tea and in return he had sent Chinese white tea. "That reminds me of how our two countries connect with each other," Wen said.