Chinese President Hu Jintao and his Indian counterpart Pratibha Patil exchanged congratulatory messages Thursday to mark the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

Thanks to the concerted efforts from both sides, bilateral relations between China and India have steadily developed since their establishment of diplomatic relations, Hu said.

In the new century, China and India established a strategic cooperative partnership for peace and prosperity. The two nations have carried out fruitful cooperation in areas such as politics, trade and culture and coordinated closely on international and regional affairs, he said.

Hu said that as emerging developing countries, China and India are facing common tasks and challenges, and share broad common interests and responsibilities as well.

The friendly neighborliness, close cooperation and common development of China and India, Hu said, would benefit not only the two countries but also would be conducive to regional and global peace and development.

In his message, Hu stressed that China regards its relationship with India as one of its most important bilateral ties. He added that to develop a long-term and stable strategic cooperative partnership with India is an established policy of the Chinese government.

China is ready to strengthen friendship, deepen mutual trust and expand cooperation with India, the president said. Hu said China will join hands with India to face various global challenges, safeguard the interests of the developing countries and advance the development of the China-India strategic cooperative partnership.

Patil said in her message that India's ever-growing relationship with China is of global and strategic significance. The close cooperation between the two nations will be conducive to the peace and stability of Asia and the larger world, she said.

India hopes to continue its close cooperation with China,and will strive to bring India-China relations to new heights, Patil said.

On the same day, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao also exchanged greetings with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh.

Wen said that peace, friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation has been the main strength of bilateral ties between China and India over the past six decades.

The two nations should learn from each other and support each other so as to achieve win-win results and common development, he said.

Singh said that the mature bilateral relationship between India and China is in line with the interests of both countries, and that he was confident about the future of China-India relations.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi also exchanged messages with S.M. Krishna, the Indian external affairs minister.