Let us make it a friendly border, says Narayanan

By C. Raja Mohan

BEIJING, MAY 30. Declaring that cooperation between India and China is ``a historic necessity'', the President, Mr. K.R. Narayanan, urged the two nations to overcome differences and make their border a peaceful and friendly one.

Conveying a new sense of Indian urgency on the resolution of the boundary dispute with China has become one of the principal diplomatic tasks of Mr. Narayanan who is here on a week-long state visit.

He had pressed the point on Monday with the Chinese President, Mr. Jiang Zemin. In his address today to the students and faculty of the prestigious Peking University, Mr. Narayanan returned to the theme. He argued that India and China ``should persevere in our joint efforts to seek a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable settlement of the boundary question within the framework of national interests and sentiments of both our peoples''.

As Sino-Indian talks on the dispute meandered over the years, the Government has been signalling Beijing that it desires a more purposeful and result-oriented negotiations on the clarification of the Line of Actual Control that separates the two nations.

India hopes that a clarification of the alignment of the LAC, which is itself in contention in many places would help both sides to begin addressing the more fundamental dispute over the boundary.

A meeting earlier this month in New Delhi of the Sino- Indian Joint Working Group had agreed that experts from both sides will meet more frequently in an attempt to expedite the negotiations.

Mr. Narayanan is now making the Indian case, both publicly and in his conversations with the top Chinese leadership, for more productive talks on the dispute.

Echoing the sentiments expressed by the late Chinese leader, Deng Xiaoping, Mr. Narayanan was insisting that Asia would not realise her destiny unless India and China learnt to cooperate and prosper. ``That is why,'' Mr. Narayanan said, ``I hold that in the new century cooperation between India and China is a historical necessity''.

Reiterating India's commitment to develop good relations with all its her neighbours, Mr. Narayanan said it was inevitable that there would be ``some differences'' between India and China.

Calling for the political will to resolve the dispute, Mr. Narayanan said India and China ``should strive together to make the border one of eternal peace, friendship and cooperation''.

The boundary question also came up in Mr. Narayanan's meeting with Mr. Li Peng, who was a former Prime Minister of China and currently the Chairman of the Chinese parliament, the National Peoples Congress.

Mr. Jiang had suggested on Monday that both ``time'' and ``patience'' were needed in resolving the long-standing boundary dispute. Mr. Li Peng today is believed to have told Mr. Narayanan that ``substantive work'' remained to be done before the dispute was resolved.

The Indian message on the importance of an early resolution of the dispute appears to be getting through. Whether there is an immediate shift in the Chinese negotiating position or not, Indian officials are indeed optimistic after Mr. Narayanan's consultations with the Chinese leadership in the last couple of days.

The positive tone of Mr. Narayanan's talks with Mr. Jiang and Mr. Li, Indian sources believe, signal a possible Chinese recognition of the need for a change of attitude on the border question in the context of the search for a more cooperative relationship between the two Asian giants.

The President had a productive meeting with Mr. Li Ruihuan, head of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Committee, and will continue the discussion tomorrow with the Prime Minister, Mr. Zhu Rongji.

There is a quiet satisfaction on the Indian side that Mr. Narayanan's meetings have gone off well, and a similar assessment is being signalled by his Chinese interlocutors.

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