China will be the first country with which India’s prime minister will have a hotline.
Such a move will make sure that leaders of the two nations pick up the phone and talk directly so that any rising tension can be nipped in the bud through consultations.
An agreement to establish the hotline was taken after talks between external affairs minister SM Krishna and his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi in Beijing on Wednesday. Krishna is on a four-day bilateral visit. He also inaugurated the festival of India in China to mark 60 years of establishing diplomatic ties between the two Asian powers.
The issue of hotline between the two PMs was first raised during a meeting between Manmohan Singh and Chinese president Hu Jintao in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg in June 2009. After ties took a hit last year over the status of Arunachal, the two governments decided to keep in touch at the highest level. It was only after Singh met Chinese premier Wen Jiabao in Thailand on the sidelines of Asean summit that relations improved.
By setting up the hotline, the two nations hope to avoid complications that arise from reports which suggest troop build-ups along borders and other issues which create tensions. The hotline is scheduled to be operational within 30 days. Both sides have realised the importance of keeping high-level contacts. Political trust will ensure that situation on the borders remain calm, they feel. The two countries blamed each other’s media for the tension over Arunachal last year. Uninformed news coverage was blamed for the strained relations.
“It is fitting that the two countries were able to do it during the celebrations of 60th year of establishment of diplomatic relations,” Krishna said after signing the agreement.
“We want to have continued, sustained and cordial relations with China,” he added. While some see the establishment of direct phone contact between the leaders of India and China as a signal that relations are improving rapidly, others point out that such a measure is put in place only when there are major differences between two nations.
The significant point is that with both India and China concentrating on developing their economies, the leadership wants a peaceful environment for growth. The Director Generals Military Operations of India and Pakistan maintain a hotline to ensure that the Line of Control remains peaceful and problem of firings from across the border does not escalate.
Foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan also maintain a hotline that is part of a nuclear risk reduction initiative between the two nations. The hotline is used for other purposes too. Foreign secretary Nirupama Rao had picked up the line to invite her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir for talks to New Delhi.
When asked whether the issue of stapled visas were taken up during the meeting with Yang, Krishna said, “All issues concerning bilateral ties were discussed.”
“We do not accept the stapled visas on the passports of residents from Jammu and Kashmir. Our position in this regard was again made clear during the talks. They (the Chinese side) listened attentively. We underlined the need for more sensitivity to be shown to Indian concerns in this regard,” Rao said at a briefing in Beijing after the talks. China has maintained that Kashmiris have always been issued stapled visas and it was not a recent development.
Krishna had also asked China to support India for a seat at the UN Security Council. Rao explained Beijing’s stand saying: “The Chinese position in this regard was encapsulated in a joint statement issued after PM Singh’s visit to China in 2008.”
The 2008 joint statement had said China attached “great importance” to India’s position as a major developing country in international affairs. “The Chinese side understands and supports India’s aspirations to play a greater role in the UN, including in the Security Council,” it had said.
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