Let's create a favourable climate, says Chinese envoy

By C. Raja Mohan

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 4. India and China need to create favourable political conditions for an early resolution of their long- standing boundary dispute, the new Chinese envoy said here today.

``For the egg to hatch,'' Mr. Hua Junduo told The Hindu, ``we need to keep it at the right temperature''. If the political conditions are right, Mr. Hua was suggesting, there could be a faster pace in the boundary negotiations.

``The earlier the boundary dispute between India and China is solved, the better it is,'' Mr. Hua asserted. He added that ``political will and mutual accommodation are necessary'' for such a settlement.

Mr. Hua, who arrived in the capital last month, is expected to present his credentials to the President, Mr. K.R. Narayanan, next week.

In a free-wheeling conversation, Mr. Hua said the exchange of maps on the contested border between the Indian and Chinese experts was proceeding well, and referred to the continuing peace and tranquillity on the border.

Mr. Hua, who is quite comfortable speaking English, emphasised the importance of a good political environment in contributing to a border settlement. This would involve the generation of greater trust and confidence between the two countries. Finally, any viable understanding on the border would have to be based on a ``give and take'', Mr. Hua insisted.

Arguing that the ``lack of mutual understanding'' was the single biggest obstacle to the improvement of Sino-Indian relations, Mr. Hua said his effort here would be to overcome this problem. He hoped to do it in two ways - by stepping up a high- level political engagement and expanding the economic content of the bilateral relations.

Mr. Hua hoped to facilitate greater contact between the two societies that were neighbours but knew so little about each other. Mr. Hua bemoaned the absence of direct air links between the two countries despite the fact that they constitute nearly a third of human race.

Citing another Chinese proverb, Mr. Hua said, ``seeing once is better than hearing a hundred times''. He hoped more and more Indians and Chinese would have an opportunity to travel across the border and discover the rich heritage of the other.

Mr. Hua said he was gratified to serve as the Chinese envoy to India at a moment when bilateral relations appeared to be on the upswing. Beijing was looking forward to the visit to China next month by the External Affairs Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh.

Mr. Hua also pointed to the significance of the Chinese Prime Minister, Mr. Zhu Rongji's trip to India later this year. The first visit by a Chinese premier to India in a decade, Mr. Hua suggested, was taking place amid greater possibilities for economic and political cooperation between the two nations.

Reflecting on his diplomatic experience, Mr. Hua said when he was about to take up his first ambassadorial assignment he was advised to ``be honest to everyone''. Mr. Hua said he had not since heard of a better way to build bridges between two nations.

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