"Whether Asia will take its place in the world...depends on how both India and China work together as they rise and actively set out to avoid ending up in opposing camps," Singapore's founding father said in a lecture Monday.

Lee's statements reported by The Hindu newspaper echo warnings from Indian opposition political leaders and analysts that New Delhi should not be drawn too closely into the US orbit and must balance that relationship through ties with China.

India's links with the United States have been warming rapidly amid increasing economic and military ties after the two countries were on opposite sides of the fence during the Cold War.

"They (India and China) must not be paranoid and suspicious of each other in a game of one-upmanship," Lee told an audience that included Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and ruling Congress party president Sonia Gandhi.

"Instead they can cooperate and compete economically, and each improve its performance by using the other's progress as benchmarks for what they should do better," said Lee, credited with transforming Singapore into a prosperous high-tech centre.

Lee also noted a recent improvement in ties between India and China whose economies have been growing rapidly. Trade is booming between the one-time rivals who fought a brief war in 1962.

The rise of India and China was changing the global balance, Lee said,

"Together, they account for 40 per cent of the world's working age population and 19 per cent of the global economy" in purchasing power parity terms, he said.

"If there are no mishaps by 2050, the US, China, India and Japan will be economic heavyweights, as will Russia if it converts its revenue from oil and gas into long term value in infrastructure and non-oil industries," Lee forecast.

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