RIO DE JANEIRO - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said?on Wednesday that China and India should enhance political and strategic mutual trust so as to advance bilateral ties on the right track.

Wen made the appeal during a meeting with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, known as the Rio+20 summit, which started here Wednesday afternoon.

Noting that the two neighbors are both large developing countries, Wen said, "the rapid development of both countries and the steady improvement of their relations have brought huge changes to the world."

In the last decade, he said, China and India established and developed a strategic and cooperative partnership, formulated several important dialogue mechanisms and maintained peace in the border region.

He also lauded the rapidly growing Chinese-Indian trade, the increasingly frequent people-to-people exchanges and the joint efforts in safeguarding the interests of developing countries on major international issues.

"Under the current complex global and regional circumstances, China and India face mutual challenges and opportunities," Wen said, adding that deepening their strategic and cooperative partnership serves the fundamental interests of both countries and the world at large.

The two sides, he said, need to further consolidate their political and strategic mutual trust and make sure that their relations will move forward on the right track.

Meanwhile, Wen proposed that the two neighbors further promote pragmatic cooperation and two-way investment and carry out more exchange programs between the two countries' youth and media among others.

They should also continue to settle border issues and maintain peace and stability in the borderlands, and enhance coordination on global and regional affairs to make new contributions to world prosperity, stability and sustainable development, he added.

For his part, Singh said India attaches great importance to its relationship with China and regards it as an important component of India's modernization strategy and a pillar of world peace and stability.

India is willing to work with China to strengthen strategic communication and coordination, maintain peace on the frontier and promote economic and trade cooperation, he added.

India, he said, will neither allow anyone to stage anti-China activities in its territory nor join any scheme to contain or besiege China.