Narayanan looks forward to talks with Jiang

By C. Raja Mohan

BEIJING, MAY 28. Hoping to impart a sense of trust and confidence to Sino-Indian relations, the President, Mr. K. R. Narayanan, will begin an intensive round of consultations with the Chinese leaders tomorrow.

Mr. Narayanan, who arrived here this evening to a brief reception at Beijing airport, would be formally welcomed by the Chinese President, Mr. Jiang Zemin, in the Great Hall of the People at the historic Tiananmen Square tomorrow.

The talks with Mr. Jiang are expected to be the highlight of Mr. Narayanan's interaction with the Chinese political leadership in the next few days in Beijing. Mr. Jiang, who has emerged as the most powerful Chinese leader since the days of Deng Xiaoping and Mao Zedong, concurrently holds all the top positions in the Chinese political hierarchy. He is the President of the People's Republic of China, general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission.

Mr. Narayanan met Mr. Jiang twice before, in 1994 when he travelled to Beijing and when the Chinese President visited India in late 1996. On both occasions Mr. Narayanan was the Vice- President.

Highly-placed sources in the Indian delegation say the two leaders have a good personal rapport, and Mr. Narayanan is said to be looking forward to his engagement with Mr. Jiang. The two leaders are scheduled to meet for nearly two hours in the morning, initially with just a few aides and later with full delegations.

Senior officials travelling with the President are unwilling to speculate on how the conversation between the two leaders will unfold. But they do expect all major bilateral, regional and international issues to come up for discussion. The emphasis will be on finding common ground on as many issues as possible.

India and China find themselves in similar circumstances on a number of global issues, and their common perspective is likely to be underscored by the two leaders. The question of building a more pluralistic and multi-polar world is also likely to come up.

Mr. Narayanan and Mr. Jiang are unlikely to brush aside uncomfortable subjects. There are any number of them, including China's support to Pakistan's nuclear and missile programmes. The conversation is likely to be honest and could help lift the veil of distrust that has fallen over Sino-Indian relations in recent years.

Mr. Narayanan's talks with Mr. Jiang in the forenoon will be followed by a banquet in the evening by the Chinese President. The talks between the two leaders would hopefully bury the hatchet of Pokhran-II and help the two nations look to a more cooperative future.

The Indian decision to name China as one of the reasons for its nuclear tests in May 1998 was seen by Mr. Jiang as a personal snub. In an interview to a Western news agency after the Indian tests, a bewildered Mr. Jiang said he had a very successful visit to India in 1996, and wondered why New Delhi had cited China as a threat.

Since the bitterness of Pokhran-II and harsh Chinese reaction to it, New Delhi and Beijing have limped back to more civil exchanges. The visit of the External Affairs Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh, in June 1999 had restored a sense of normalcy to bilateral ties. And Mr. Narayanan's visit could mark the return of some warmth to the Sino-Indian ties.

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