NCP chief and former Defence Minister Sharad Pawar said here on Sunday that China—which “has the power, vision and programme to act against Indian interests” — was a “bigger threat to India” than Pakistan.In the second part of a three-part interview being published in the Shiv Sena’s official mouth-piece “Saamana”, Pawar said: “Whenever we think of an enemy country, the first country that comes to our mind is Pakistan. But, we need not worry much about Pakistan. From the long term point of view it is China – which has power, vision and programme – that is a bigger threat to India than Pakistan”.“There is a huge difference between the military power of China and Pakistan. China is ten times stronger than India in terms of both Military might and economic power,” Pawar said. Pawar said that the stand-off between India and China could not be solved through a war but it had to be resolved through diplomatic strategies. “Instead of striking, we should try to put international pressure on China through negotiations and diplomatic channels,” he said.Mr Pawar said that in recent years, China had turned not just Pakistan, but even countries like Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka against India.In elaboration, Pawar said: “When (Narendra) Modi became prime minister for the first time, he went to Nepal to offer prayers at the Pashupatinath temple. (PM) Modi praised Nepal, calling it Indias friend and the first Hindu nation. Now Nepal is not with us, but on Chinas side,” the former Union minister said.“India took the lead to liberate Bangladesh, and now the neighbouring country has signed a treaty with China, he said.Disapproving the ruling BJP’s criticism of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi for their handling of China and Pakistan, Pawar said: “During the tenure of Nehru, India and China shared warm relations. …Jawaharlal Nehru was of the view that China will become a superpower some day and that India should maintain a cordial relation with it since tensions were not beneficial to either of the two countries”.On the issue of the economic crisis in the country, Pawar said that India needed another Dr Manmohan Singh to revive Indian economy. “Modi should consult economists and experts like Manmohan Singh to revive the economy. When Manmohan Singh, Pranab Mukherjee, P Chidambaram were finance ministers, they would constantly be in touch with experts and political leaders cutting across party lines to ascertain their views on various issues facing the country,” he said.“When Manmohan Singh was the Union finance minister, he gave a new direction to the Indian economy. I was also part of that Union cabinet. I credit Singh and late P V Narasimha Rao for the turnaround of the economy from the crisis,” the NCP chief said.