China and India began discussing the border issue in the 1980s and the talks were elevated in 2003 to a dialogue between Special Representatives tasked with finding a political resolution to the border issue. The two countries have signed three agreements in 1993, 1996 and 2005 that have helped maintain peace in frontier areas. As the agreement setting up the new mechanism states that till the boundary issue is resolved, peace along the border areas “is very significant for enhancing mutual trust and security.”
While the border has remained peaceful, the Indian media has reported ‘border intrusions’ by Chinese soldiers in the past couple of years. The issue has also been raised in the Indian Parliament with the government explaining that the LAC was not a demarcated line and both sides had different perceptions of the LAC in different sectors. But incidents of intrusions have raised public tempers in India. In 2010, reports in the Indian media and commentaries in China’s new media resulted in a war of words on both sides and both governments have made active efforts to damp down the media spat in the past year.
The Delhi talks between India’s National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon and China’s State Councillor Dai Binggou were carefully calibrated. Both sides took some special steps to build up the right atmosphere for the talks. In the weeks preceding the talks the two Special Representatives attended functions at each other’s embassy in Beijing and New Delhi and delivered messages of goodwill and cooperation.
It was a conscious effort to tone down the irritants that tend to erupt in the bilateral relations. The SR talks had been called off last November by the Chinese side because an international conference on Buddhism to be addressed by the Dalai Lama was to be held at the same time.
While the disputed border is peaceful, it sets off other ripples such as the Chinese refusal to give a visa to an Indian Air Force official who belongs to Arunachal Pradesh – a region China claims as ‘southern Tibet’. The officer was part of a defence delegation to China.
On an earlier occasion in 2010, India had cancelled the first of its military exchanges with China when Beijing refused a visa to one of its delegates, a General commanding the Kashmir region. The Chinese explanation was that Kashmir is a ‘disputed region’, something that the Indian government does not accept. Defence exchanges were later resumed and a delegation visited China early this month without the Arunachal Pradesh official.
As they work to build on the India-China Strategic and Cooperative Partnership for Peace and Prosperity, both countries are keen to put behind them the public acrimony such incidents cause and focus on their growing economic and political cooperation. China is India’s largest trading partner, the bilateral trade stood at $67 billion in 2011, though trade is heavily skewed in China’s favour as India’s exports are mainly iron ore and other raw materials like cotton. The Indian government is working on diversifying its exports basket to include pharmaceuticals and IT.
The SR discussions have broadened over time from the border issue to cover most bilateral issues and also to exchange views on regional and global issues. They also agreed to prepare a ‘joint agreed report’ for their governments on the progress that has been made during the Special Representatives talks on the boundary question. This agreement has its significance as the agreed report would put on record all the progress made during the talks on the boundary question.
India has had four Special Representatives since the talks began in 2003 while China has been represented by Councillor Dai for all the 15 rounds of talks. However, with the leadership change taking place in Beijing in a year’s time, it is likely that China may appoint a new Special Representative. A joint agreed record would ensure that there are no misunderstandings over the talks that had been held earlier.
As the talks ended in Delhi, Councillor Dai had said that though they were yet to arrive at the summit, “we have scaled much height and made much progress.” In an article published in a leading Indian newspaper, he wrote that it could be “a golden period to grow China-India relations. The world has enough space for China and India to achieve common development.”
The progress in the Special Representatives talks has set the tone for a meeting between the leaders of the two countries when Chinese President Hu Jintao visits Delhi for the next Brics summit in March this year.
