When foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon visits Beijing later this week for the third round of India-China strategic dialogue, the focus will be on the Tibet issue.
Foreign secy will also discuss the border issue
NEW DELHI: When foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon visits Beijing later this week for the third round of India-China strategic dialogue, the focus will be on the Tibet issue and border talks.
Menon will also use the opportunity to give finishing touches to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s official visit to Beijing scheduled for mid-January 2008.
Though India’s position on Tibet is well known, it is likely to be brought up by the Chinese during Menon’s meeting with China’s deputy foreign minister Wu Dawei.
Ever since the US Congress decided to honour the Dalai Lama with the Congressional Gold medal, the highest civilian award conferred by US lawmakers, the Chinese have been wary.
The Dalai Lama’s well-publicised visit to Capitol Hill was followed by his trip to Canada and a meeting with Germany Chancellor Merkel. Germany paid for this because when Merkel visited China she was given a cool reception.
In sharp contrast, the Chinese inked business deals worth 20 billion euro with French president Nicholas Sarkozy. France had not entertained Tibet’s spiritual leader. The Chinese wanted to drive home this message to the Germans.
Soon after the Tibetan spiritual leader returned to India, ministers in the UPA government were asked not to attend a felicitation function organised by the Gandhi peace foundation. This move was noted and appreciated by Beijing.
New Delhi has always regarded Tibet as an autonomous region of China. But now that the Dalai Lama is getting on in years and is publicly hinting at choosing a successor, the Chinese would like a reiteration of New Delhi’s position on Tibet, which will be reflected in the joint declaration at the end of the PM’s visit.
India is likely to ask for a similar response from China on Sikkim, though Beijing had by the mid 1990’s come to acknowledge it as a part of India.
Despite frequent reports in the Indian media about the Chinese army’s incursions into Indian territory, South Block has refrained from making harsh public statements against Beijing. This is because both sides realise the boundary demarcation is yet to be finalised and the border remains “disputed”.
The border issue, which has now reached the sensitive land exchange stage, is also likely to come up in the talks between Menon and Wu Dawei. There has been little progress in the negotiations in the last few rounds. But now the two sides are looking to forge ahead.
When national security advisor MK Narayanan visited Beijing ahead of Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s trip in October, he found the Chinese much more accommodating and he had privately hoped the tricky boundary problem would move towards a final resolution.
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