'Burden of Sino-India boundary issue should be solved soon'

India today said the "burden" of the vexed boundary issue with China should be resolved soon and the two countries should fully implement the understandings reached to avoid "incidents" from time to time.

"We would like to see this issue resolved as quickly as possible. We believe that the unresolved boundary question means that we are carrying a burden. Even though we do not let this issue hinder our relations, it does impede the full realisation of the potential of the partnership between India and China," Indian Ambassador to China Ashok K Kantha said.

"While we pursue an early settlement of the boundary question, we must also ensure peace and tranquillity along the border, which is an essential guarantor for the smooth development of our bilateral relations," he said in an interview to China Today publication.

The envoy's comments came days after India and China agreed to maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas during the 18th round of border talks in New Delhi.
Kantha said both India and China believe that an "early boundary settlement is a strategic objective".

"There have been incidents from time to time and we would like to ensure that such incidents do not occur. For that, we should fully implement the understandings that have been reached between our two countries," he said.

During the recent talks, Special Representatives (SRs) of India and China - National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi - also agreed to further expand contacts between the forces of the two countries as these constitute important confidence-building measures for maintaining peace and tranquillity in the border areas.

China says the border dispute is confined only to 2,000 kms mostly in Arunachal Pradesh whereas India asserts that the dispute covered the western side of the border spanning to about 4,000 kms, especially the Aksai Chin area annexed by China in 1962 war.

Chinese President Xi Jinping's high-profile visit in September was overshadowed by the intrusion of Chinese troops at Chumar in Ladakh region. It was resolved with simultaneous withdrawal by both sides after the presidential visit.

Meanwhile, Kantha also touched upon India's trade deficit with China that rose to a whopping USD 45 billion and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's expected visit to Beijing next month is likely to put in place a "new agenda" to push the bilateral relations forward.

"In 2014, Chinese data showed that India's trade deficit with China was about USD 38 billion. According to our data, the deficit was around USD 45 billion, which accounted for one-third of India's global trade deficit. That is a concern on both sides.

"We are committed to expanding our trade relations with China in order to address this," he said.

He said India seeks better market access in China for Indian products and services that have a comparative advantage.

"We believe we have a certain competitive edge – be it in IT services or pharmaceutical products. We believe that if we have better access to the Chinese market, our exports will increase," he said.

Kantha said Modi has invited Chinese companies to participate in the economic development of India as partners.

"Specifically, we would like to see more Chinese engagement in the manufacturing and infrastructure segments," he said.

About the expected visit by Modi to China next month, he said it is taking place in the background of "very significant outcomes" of Xi's visit to India last year.

"This is the backdrop of Prime Minister Modi's visit. We believe that the Prime Minister's visit will be of great importance and significantly contribute to and help in building an even closer partnership between India and China.

"Through this visit, we hope to put in place a new agenda for pushing our partnership forward, even while implementing the understandings already reached between us," he said.

On India's response to China new Silk Road and 21st Maritime Silk Road (MSR) projects, Kantha said India is closely following the new initiatives.

"However, some of the details have not been spelled out. At the same time, we understand that they are an important aspect of China's connectivity agenda and neighbourhood strategy.

"India also has its own plans of developing connectivity with countries of the region, including China.

"Our approach is that wherever we have mutual interests and synergies we must work together. Thus, we are working together on the Bangladesh, China India, Myanmar (BCIM) Economic Corridor and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)" floated by China, he said.