<br/>External Affairs Minister S M Krishna has met the families of 21 Indians, who have been charged with diamond smuggling in China. He assured them that the issue will be raised during his meetings with the top Chinese leadership today. Mr. Krishna, who is on a four-day official visit to China, met the families of the Indians, who were arrested in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen in January.<br/><br/>While 20 Indians have been charged with diamond smuggling, one has been charged with money<br/><br/>laundering. India has again sought consular access to meet the Indians and has also requested<br/><br/>Chinese authorities to allow them to meet their immediate family members. Mr. Krishna is scheduled to meet Premier Wen Jiabao and Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi later in the day.<br/><br/>Earlier, the External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna sought a strong and stable relationship between India and China, which he said has global consequences. He said the two countries are not rivals.<br/><br/>India has also sought China’s backing for a permanent UNSC seat for India. External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, now on a visit to China called on Beijing to review its policies on UN reforms to welcome its neighbour to the core group of the world body. He also sought China's support for the convention against terrorism proposed by India at the United Nations. Speaking to the media on sidelines of a function at an institute of Sino-Indian relation in Beijing, Mr. Krishna said that all nations should join hands to thwart the evil designs of terrorists. Ahead of his talks with the Chinese leadership, Mr. Krishna said in view of the multi-dimensional threats posed by terrorism it has become necessary to step up the fight against the menace under the aegis of the United Nations. Earlier speaking at China Institute of International Studies (CIIS) on India and China in the 21st Century World, Mr. Krishna said considerable progress has been made by India on the boundary question with China.<br/><br/>Asking both the sides to be patient on the issue Mr. Krishna said, the resolution of the boundary issue is time consuming. Citing the agreements on peace and tranquility, confidence building measures and the guiding principles and political parameters to resolve the vexed issue, the External Affairs Minister said that this goes to show the two countries have the ability to increase convergence and deepen mutual understanding on this complex issue through patient negotiation. He said it has to be accepted that there will be outstanding issues between the two countries even as their relationship forges ahead.<br/><br/>On economic front , Mr. Krishna said that there is a huge potential waiting to be tapped, which would happen only by connecting Chinese users to Indian providers. He said that the two need to work on a wide variety of fronts as progress on one will reinforce in the other. He said that far from sliding into complacency, the two countries must keep pushing the pace of the relationship with new ideas and more activity .Mar Krishna said that as rising powers, India and China are often projected to have a competitive relationship but it is up to the two countries to disprove such scenarios, not through platitudes and wishful thinking, but by concrete examples of cooperation.