Irritants aside, India-China border talks making quiet progress

The Special Representatives of India and China held the 16th round of boundary talks in Beijing on June 28, 29 -- the first such meeting under the new Chinese leadership -- to make another bid to move forward on the resolution of the vexed dispute.

National security advisor Shivshankar Menon, the designated Special Representative (SR) and his newly appointed counterpart Yang Jiechi, held talks amid recent assertions by both sides to seek an early solution. Besides, Menon also met Chinese premier Li Keqiang and foreign minister Wang Yi during his two-day visit. Li had visited India in May making his first visit abroad. The two-day border talks ended in a “productive, constructive and forward-looking atmosphere”, including maintaining peace and tranquility on the boundary that saw a three-week standoff earlier this year.

A top Chinese official stressed that both the countries should strive hard to break new ground to resolve the festering border issue and work towards expanding the strategic partnership between the two countries. Making introductory remarks, Yang Jiechi said both representatives have a “lofty mission and heavy responsibilities”. Yang, who was the foreign minister earlier, took on the SR’s responsibility after the Chinese leadership change early this year. He was appointed as State Councilor and took over as SR from Dai Bingguo.

Both the countries recognise that the boundary question is an issue left over from history and it cannot be solved overnight but both have shown resolve to find a solution that is mutually acceptable to both sides. Some progress has already been made towards this objective. As the Chinese spokeswoman Hua Chunying said both sides have reached preliminary consensus on the framework of the resolution to find an equitable and mutually acceptable solution pending final settlement of boundary question. Hua stressed the importance of working together “to maintain peace and tranquility of border areas and ensure boundary issue does not affect overall relations” between the two countries. The talks also focused on recent intrusion by Chinese forces in India’s Depsang Valley.

Boundary settlement

The last round of talks were held in December during which Menon and the previous long standing Chinese negotiator, Dai Bingguo reached a "common understanding" on the progress made during the earlier rounds. The border talks are currently in second stage of the three stage process which has been agreed in the beginning. The first stage was to do the guiding principles which resulted in 2005 agreement on the political parameters and guiding principles for boundary settlement. The second stage is aimed at working out a framework for boundary settlement. Once a framework is in place the two countries will proceed to actual business of drawing boundary.

The border

has never been formally delimited.The two began discussing border issues in the 1980s. India asserts that the dispute covered about 4,000 km, while China claims that it is confined to about 2,000 km to the area of North-east Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, which it refers as Southern Tibet. Besides border negotiations, the SRs were designated to discuss almost all aspects of the relations between the two countries which meant that a host of issues from river waters, trade deficit as well as strategic issues including mutual concerns over their neighbourhood policies figured in the talks.

Menon’s visit will pave the way for Indian defence minister A K Antony’s visit to Beijing on July 4. The Chinese foreign ministry had cautioned against having high hopes about the outcome of the border talks between Menon and Yang Jeichi. Chinese officials claim that the boundary issue is left over from history and cannot be solved overnight. However, long lasting efforts have been made to solve the issue and a lot of achievements have already been gained. Both sides agree that the boundary issue should not affect overall relations between the two countries.

While both Menon and Yang spoke about a momentum in the relationship, this round of talks took place within two months after India accused China of sending troops into its territory in the Daulat Bag Oldi sector in eastern Ladakh. The incursion issue took nearly three weeks to resolve and left a bitter aftertaste for India. Ironically, the incursion came after Xi and Singh’s meeting and barely weeks before Li’s visit to India.

The latest incursion was only a part of the continual friction between the two neighbours for decades. The lack of trust started in 1962 when China made a surprise attack on north eastern India. Since then the Line of Actual Control has been a prickly controversial issue and border incidents often mar the seeming amity. While China is critical of the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamshala, India has been exercised about Chinese troops sometimes breaking the peace in Arunachal Pradesh.

Delhi is also not happy about China’s Brahmaputra project and its designs in the South China Sea. But what puts the irritants in the shade is the need for economic ties and bridging the trade imbalance. Prime minister Li’s visit to India and the forthcoming visit of Antony to Beijing will help remove some of the misunderstanding between the two and Menon’s role in facilitating these improvements are significant.