Favouring a new beginning between India and China to forge better understanding and cooperation in view of the landmark agreement reached this week, Information Technology Minister Arun Shourie on Thursday said that both the countries should not look at each other as rivals.

He also said both the countries should not be part of the 'big game' that some others want to play in the region.

PM in China: Complete Coverage

At an interactive session organised by FICCI and Businessweek in Shanghai, he said: "If we want to be together, nobody can keep us apart."

He pointed out that if New Delhi and Beijing were always at each other's throats -- directly or indirectly -- then others could intervene.

Shourie also stressed upon the need for cooperation between India and China at the World Trade Organisation at a critical stage in the new round of trade negotiations so as to protect the interests of developing countries.

"Whenever India and China have cooperated, there has been a material difference at WTO negotiations," he said referring to the Doha round of WTO talks when some developed countries wanted to harm the interests of countries like India and China.

The minister emphasised the need for India and China to be aware of each other's concerns. "The 'law of unintentional consequences' has an impact on bilateral ties," he said, adding that India and China need to be cautious to guard against any action done unintentionally which may have a debilitating impact on mutual relationships.

Shourie, visiting China for the first time, praised the single-minded focus of the Chinese state in the pursuit of achieving modernisation at an early date and the investments made by it to improve the infrastructure of the nation.

"It is a great human experiment to be seen whether human creativity will flower and continue to flower when state has a great role to play," Shourie said while expressing his doubts whether infrastructure only could sustain the high economic growth experienced by the communist state.

He praised the role of expatriate Indian professionals for changing the motherland's image as 'a land of snake charmers.'

"I feel that Indians who have made a mark abroad have not only made an economic contribution, but also have changed the world's perception that India is a land of snake charmers," he said.

"Just as the growth of infrastructure in Shanghai has changed the world's opinion of China, these Indians have changed the world's perception of India that we are not just a country of snake charmers but can also put satellites into space and also charm snakes, not only snakes in snake's clothing," Shourie said amid applause from the appreciative Indian businessmen, who had gathered in connection with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's six-day official visit.

"They (the Indian professionals living abroad) have proved that they can face the world with confidence," the minister said.

Responding to a question on brain drain from India to the US and other developed countries, Shourie replied: "We are producing enough talent to supply some to the United States."