From correspondents in Delhi, India, 10:00 PM IST

Rejecting the opposition charge of being soft on China, the government Wednesday asserted that India 'is not a soft state' and said it will scale up infrastructure along the border to ward off any future threat.

In his reply to the debate in parliament on China, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna reminded Beijing to be 'sensitive to each other's concerns and aspirations' to resolve all outstanding issues, the border row included, through dialogue.

'We are not a soft state. We are the state which has earned the respect of the world,' Krishna said.

'I reject the contention with the contempt it deserves,' he said, while responding to Shiv Sena MP Anant Geete's contention that India was soft on China and was not prepared to tackle perceived Chinese threats.

Repudiating the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) charge that the government has been soft on China despite Chinese aggressiveness on the border, the minister said: 'There is a sea change that has come about since 1962. We can't be browbeaten by anyone.'

India was a strong nation and 'is in a position to face any adversary', he added.

'How can you say that our policy towards China is soft? Didn't the prime minister go to Arunachal Pradesh?' he asked.

The reference was to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Arunachal Pradesh in October despite objections from China, which claims the entire state. China also denounced Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama's trip to the border state in November.

Krishna said the government planned to upgrade infrastructure along the border with China. 'Within the constraints of our resource ... the momentum is going to be much higher in months to come.

'It goes without saying that we will be vigilant on the border. We are fully cognisant of the need to protect our borders.

'The situation on the border is being constantly monitored. We are strengthening the border infrastructure,' he added.

'Let me repeat before this parliament that Arunachal Pradesh is a part and parcel of this great country.'

The minister said India rejected the Chinese practice of issuing stapled visas to residents of Jammu and Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh - a step widely seen as a ploy questioning India's sovereignty over these states.

Earlier, while opening the debate on India-China relations in parliament, BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi had said that the country was in the same state as in 1962 when India was militarily routed by China.

Krishna said India valued its friendship with China and that both countries 'should be sensitive to each other's concerns, aspirations and sentiments of the other'.

He espoused a 'forward-looking approach' to bilateral relations and underlined the need for developing relations in 'an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect based on an understanding of each other's positions'.

Describing negotiations over the boundary dispute as 'a complex and time-consuming process,' Krishna said the issue 'should not be allowed to affect functional cooperation between the two countries' in areas such as trade.

Rejecting any impresion of rivalry between the two most populous countries, Krishna said China and India would emerge as economic giants in the 21st century in the next 25 years if not earlier.

'The 21st century will belong to the two Asian giants. This only shows that the emerging Asian economies are going to dictate the pace of global economic growth in the years to come,' he said.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)