Date:22/11/2002 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2002/11/22/stories/2002112205940100.htm

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India, China hold discussions on border dispute

By Amit Baruah

NEW DELHI NOV. 21 . India and China were engaged in the task of ironing out differences relating to the exchange of maps in the western sector of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) at the 14th meeting of the Joint Working Group (JWG) on the boundary question today.

Highly-placed sources conceded that China had problems in presenting maps on the western sector unlike the middle sector in which the two sides have been able to exchange maps.

India is also expected to provide a set of dates to China for the scheduled visit of the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, to Beijing. It is unlikely that the visit will take place in this calendar year given the fact that Mr. Vajpayee is busy with the Parliament session and China is still in the midst of a change of guard.

Asked about the tone of the JWG talks today, the External Affairs Minister, Yashwant Sinha, said at Hyderabad House: "I think they were positive and are moving in the right direction." From India's point of view, the western sector includes areas ceded by Pakistan to China in the 1960s. About 33,000 sq. km. is disputed. The total length of the boundary with China is about 2,000 km and the dispute is over some 1,25,000 sq. km., divided into the western, middle and eastern sectors. Today's meeting was presided over by the Foreign Secretary, Kanwal Sibal, and the Chinese Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, Wang Yi, and lasted five hours. Further talks continued over a working dinner.

`Forward-looking'

Given the sensitive nature of the talks, Indian and Chinese officials have been careful about releasing details to the press. For the record, the Foreign Office spokesman said this evening that the talks were "good and forward-looking" and that the third round of talks would take place over dinner. "We will give you more details after that," the spokesman promised.

To questions, he said he could not share any details about the talks in the JWG till these were over. Replying to a question in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, the External Affairs Minister said: "The resolution of the boundary problem between India and China is outstanding. The two sides also have differences in perception of the Line of Actual Control (LAC)...."

Setting out the principles behind the ongoing negotiations, Mr. Sinha said: "India and China seek a fair, reasonable and mutually-acceptable settlement of the boundary question through peaceful negotiations".Asked whether any violations of the LAC by China had come to notice recently, the Minister merely said: "The Government remains vigilant and takes all necessary and appropriate measures to safeguard the sovereignty, territorial integrity and security of India."

While the JWG has now met 14 times since the path-breaking visit of the then Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, to Beijing in 1988, there is little doubt that "progress" has taken place and continues to take place at a snail's place. Given the differences in the stated positions of the two countries, this is hardly surprising. Mercifully, these differences have not prevented India and China from moving ahead in other areas of their relationship, which have even weathered the storm of the May 1998 nuclear tests conducted by New Delhi.