New Delhi
6 August 2009
The 13th round of boundary talks starting here Friday will see India and China
resume negotiation for a framework for final package settlement covering all aspects of
the Sino-Indian border row.
The talks, as always, are shrouded in opacity. All that a source would say vaguely on the
eve of the talks is that the latest round will be a part of the second stage of dialogue. The
first stage commenced from April 2005, when the political parameters and guiding
principles were agreed. The third stage, which will kick in after both sides are agreed on
the framework, will involve actual delineation and demarcation of the boundary.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ma Chaoxu is reported to have told Chinese media
here Thursday that the two sides are expected to exchange views in depth about seeking
a political solution to the boundary problem and safeguarding the peace in the border
areas.
Earlier, Chinese Ambassador to India Zhang Yan said in Beijing that both sides should
approach the border dispute with the utmost political wisdom; otherwise they could lose
out on valuable development opportunities.
Prof Phunchok Stobdan from the New Delhi-based Institute for Defence Studies and
Analyses said Beijing has made the right noises in the run-up to the talks but it is not
likely to settle for a compromise.
China says India should hand over Tawang, if not the whole of Arunachal Pradesh, to it.
India insists there can be no negotiation on Tawang, which is an area with a settled
population.
Beijing, he said, might give a soft impression in view of the situations in Tibet and
Xinjiang but there is no mistaking that the intended transgressions by the Chinese in the
border areas has increased.
"The talks will take a long time," Prof Stobdan concluded.
Chinese State Councillor Dai Bingguo will head the Chinese delegation for the talks with
National Security Adviser MK Narayanan. It will include Wu Dawei, Vice Foreign Minister;
and Ning Fukui, director general of department of boundary and ocean affairs of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
President Pratibha Devisingh Patil is expected to visit China soon. Chinese Foreign
Minister Yang Jiechi is expected to visit here later this year for the RIC (Russia-India-
China) meeting of foreign ministers.
India and China agreed to appoint special representatives in June 2003, during the then
prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's visit to Beijing. The talks at the level of special
representative was established in October that year. Bingguo has been the special
representative of China since inception. India has had two special representatives in Mr
Narayanan and his predecessor Brajesh Mishra. In April 2005, during Chinese Premier
Wen Jiabao's visit to India, both sides agreed on the political parameters and guiding
principles for settlement of India-China boundary question.
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