New Delhi
7 September 2009
China's belligerence has put paid to the hope of President Pratibha Devisingh
Patil touring China anytime soon. Although New Delhi and Beijing kept up the pretences
of working out dates for the visit, indications were that it would be awkward to schedule a
visit immediately.
The Indian officials who accompanied Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for a bilateral
meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao on the margins of the Shanghai Cooperation
Organisation (SCO) Summit at Yekaterinburg in June had told media that President Patil
could be expected to visit Beijing in August.
New Delhi was since veering round to the view that the intermittent border
transgressions by the Chinese soldiers and aircraft alike, coupled with hostile rhetoric
from Chinese Communist Party mouthpieces and quasi-official quarters, had rendered an
early visit inopportune.
Also, the Chinese side had not indicated any urgency to accelerate the Sino-Indian
border talks, or to put pressure on Pakistan to deliver on its commitment of bringing the
perpetrators of the November 26, 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, to justice. Trade was
the only bilateral issue that was getting attractive.
According to Prof Srikanth Kondapalli from Jawaharlal Nehru University, the
atmospherics were relatively negative and there was nothing India would gain by way of
the visit except for cosmetic improvement in bilateral ties. "It would be awkward for the
President to visit China during a controversial season," he said.
Another view was that symbolism was the urgent need of the hour, and the current
situation should precisely be a reason for organising the visit. "It is necessary now, if
only to uphold the fact that dialogue is in progress," a source said, adding that greater
urgency was required to firm up the dates.
Minister of External Affairs SM Krishna, who will leave for New York on September 22 for
participating in the United Nations General Assembly, injected calm into the controversy
surrounding the incidents of China violating India's airspace and international border.
"With China, I think the boundary has been one of the most peaceful. So, there is no
issue on that. There is no problem on that. These incursions will be certainly sorted out,"
Mr Krishna said here Monday.
No comments:
Post a Comment