India, China hold boundary talks

BEIJING: After a year-long hiatus, India and China said on Thursday held a fresh round of boundary talks with Beijing saying the two countries must maintain peace and tranquility along the border to help in a speedy resolution of the protracted problem.
    
"Both should maintain peace and tranquility in the border area before the boundary issue is resolved," Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping said during a meeting with India's National Security Adviser M K Narayanan here at the ornate Great Hall of the People.
     
Narayanan, who is heading the Indian delegation at the talks, said New Delhi also hoped to realise the consensus by the leaders of the two countries to settle the vexed boundary issue at an early date.
     
The new round of boundary talks is being held amid some tension in bilateral ties in the wake of attempts by China to block a consensus on the India-specific waiver at the NSG meet in Vienna earlier this month.
      
Beijing's stand at the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) came as a rude shock to New Delhi, which conveyed its unhappiness to Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi during his visit to New Delhi last week. China maintains it played a positive role at the crucial NSG meet.
     
Xi hoped the framework for the resolution of the boundary issue will be "fair and reasonable" and worked out through equal consultation and friendly dialogue and accepted by both the countries.
     
Xi said the achievement made during the boundary meeting would benefit both sides and increase the mutually strategic trust, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

"The two sides should view the bilateral ties with strategic and long-term perspective, and expand the common ground and properly handle the disputes so as to push forward the long-term and stable relations," the Chinese Vice President told Narayanan, who is here to attend the 12th round of India-China boundary talks.
      
Xi, who is tipped to succeed Chinese President Hu Jintao in 2012, pledged China was committed to developing the strategic and cooperative partnership of peace and prosperity with India, stressing Sino-Indian friendly relations would benefit both, Asia and the world as a whole.
      
Narayanan said India attached importance to ties with China and would promote the relationship, the report said.
      
Earlier, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said the two Special Representatives at their two-day meeting will continue to discuss the framework for the resolution of the boundary issue.
      
"The Special Representatives will continue to discuss the framework for the boundary dispute," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu said.
     
During the meeting with Narayanan, Xi also recalled the visit of UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi during the Beijing Olympic opening ceremony in August and thanked India for its support to make the premier sporting event a great success.
     
Xi also welcomed Narayanan and his delegation, which included Indian Ambassador to China, Nirupama Rao.
     
Narayanan later reached the heavily-fortified Diaoyutai State Guest House for the 12th round of boundary talks with his Chinese counterpart, Dai Bingguo, who is State Councillor.
     
Narayanan and Dai, who have built a good rapport, exchanged pleasantries before they went into serious business.
     
The two sides are expected to discuss the status of Tawang, nestled among the mountains in Arunachal Pradesh which has long been a serious bone of contention.
     
Narayanan had earlier said that the lingering dispute over the Buddhist enclave of Tawang was preventing efforts by the two countries to "cross the rubicon."
     
"Till that (the issue of Tawang) is settled whatever else we may do, it is difficult to say we have crossed the rubicon," Narayanan had said in an interview to Straits Times of Singapore last month.
      
He said "when they (the Chinese) talk in terms of movement forward, they keep arguing Tawang has always been a part of Tibet, which is a matter of debate."
      
Unable to find a negotiated settlement through the diplomatic channels, India and China appointed Special Representatives in June 2003 to address the border issue from a political perspective of the overall bilateral relations.
     
The latest round of talks comes after the two sides held negotiations from September 24-26 last year in Beijing.
     
India says China is illegally occupying 43,180 sq kms of Jammu and Kashmir including 5,180 sq km illegally ceded to Beijing by Islamabad under the Sino-Pakistan boundary agreement in 1963. On the other hand, China accuses India of possessing some 90,000 sq km of Chinese territory, mostly in Arunachal Pradesh.