Setting at rest the misconception that India and China are emerging as rivals in the economic and political area, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday said the bilateral relationship is progressing in the right direction.

"There is a misconception that India and China are competitors and this is not true," Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told journalists accompanying him on the four-day visit to Kuala Lumpur.

"India's relation with China is emerging including on border issue on the basis of agreed principles. Our relationship is emerging in the right direction. We are making progress on trade as well as border," Press Truss of India quoted Singh as saying.

He made it clear there was no rivalry between India and China and the two were partners in pushing up growth and prosperity in the region.

(Xinhua News Agency December 12, 2005)