India, China set for crucial border talks ahead of Wen's visit

K J M Varma
Beijing, Nov 28 (PTI) India's National Security Advisor
Shivshankar Menon arrived here on Sunday to hold the crucial
Special Representatives border talks with China to resolve the
long-running boundary dispute between the two countries and
lay the ground for Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to New
Delhi next month.
Menon, the designated Special Representative to hold
the 14th round of talks on boundary dispute with China,
arrived here on Sunday on a three-day visit accompanied by key
officials of the External Affairs Ministry, official sources
here told PTI.
The NSA would hold talks with his Chinese counterpart
and top diplomat, Dai Bingguo, to break the deadlock over
disputes relating to the demarcation of boundaries in Aksai
Chin in the Ladakh sector and Arunachal Pradesh, which China
refers to as southern Tibet.
The two officials aided by Indian Ambassador to China,
S. Jaishankar are set to meet on Monday afternoon, followed by
a banquet to be hosted by Dai and wind up with yet another
round on Tuesday.
The talks would also lay the ground work for Wen’s
visit next month. The latest round of Special Representative
talks from Monday assume significance as it will the final
high-level discussions between the two countries before
Premier's New Delhi visit.
The last round of Special Representatives talks was
held in New Delhi in 2009 between the then NSA, M K Narayanan
and Dai which ended without much progress.
India and China share about 4,000-km long borders.
China has staked claims to Akasai Chin in the Ladakh region
and Arunachal Pradesh, which Beijing refers to as southern
Tibet.
Though India-China began discussions to resolve the
border difference since 1980, the process got an impetus after
the two countries agreed to hold talks by designated Special
Representatives.
The two countries also signed agreements in 1993 and
1996 to maintain peace and stability in the border areas.
In 2005, China and India signed a political guiding principle
on demarcation of the boundary.
The border issue came up for discussion during Indian
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's meeting with Wen last month on
the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Hanoi.
On the boundary problem, both Singh and Wen said they
looked forward to early resolution of the issue and asked
their Special Representatives to deal with the subject with a
sense of urgency. The Chinese Premier underlined the need for
both sides to make efforts to address mutual concerns. (MORE)
PTI KJV
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