New Delhi
1 September 2010
An Indian delegation is likely to travel to China for a candid exchange of views
on bilateral ties, which hit a particular low after Beijing denied permission to a senior
Indian Army officer to travel there because he was posted in Jammu and Kashmir.
However, New Delhi would not offer comment on the likelihood of the talks.
The visit, if it takes place, would have come after the cabinet committee on security met
here Tuesday to take stock of the Sino-Indian relations. India's ambassador to China, S
Jaishankar, was understood to have briefed the committee about recent developments.
Chinese ambassador to India Zhang Yan was called in to the external affairs ministry on
August 27 and conveyed India's displeasure over China's refusal to go ahead with the
visit by Lt Gen BS Jaswal, the chief of Indian Army's northern command.
The envoy met Gautam Bambawale, joint secretary (east Asia) in the ministry, but
sources had insisted that their meeting had nothing to do with the row over denial of
permission to the officer.
New Delhi had retaliated by putting the defence exchanges on hold until issues had
been clarified. Also, it did not issue visas to two captains and one senior colonel of the
Chinese armed forces who were to visit India.
The issue of stapled visas to Indian nationals living in Jammu and Kashmir, Chinese
infrastructure projects in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK), and the sale of two new
Chinese nuclear reactors to Pakistan, have all added to the unease in the Sino-Indian
ties.
National security adviser Shivshankar Menon visited Beijing as special envoy of Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh in July. That visit was preceded by President Pratibha Patil's
in May and external affairs minister SM Krishna's in April.
During his stay in Beijing, Mr Krishna had flagged-off the celebrations to mark the 60th
anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and China. He
had also formally inaugurated the Festival of India in China.
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