India hopes China shows more sensitivity on key issues

New Delhi, Dec 3 (PTI) Ahead of Premier Wen Jiabao's
upcoming visit here, India on Friday hoped that China realises
the need to show more sensitivity on core issues that impinge
on the country's "sovereignty and territorial integrity" as
raised by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said the two countries
were also putting in place more confidence building measures
to tackle the vexed boundary issue, for which India is making
a serious attempt to try to arrive at a "fair, reasonable and
mutually acceptable solution".
Addressing a seminar on China-India relations, Rao talked
about a host of issues which were a matter of concern to New
Delhi and included Chinese presence in Pak-occupied Kashmir,
issuance of stapled visas to residents of Jammu and Kashmir
and construction of dams on cross-border rivers.
"We believe that India-China relationship will grow even
stronger as China shows more sensitivity on core issues that
impinge on our sovereignty and territorial integrity. We hope
this can be realised," she said.
India has maintained that the activities of Chinese
companies in Pak-occupied Kashmir were illegal and the issue
has been raised with the Chinese leadership. The matter of
stapled visa to Jammu and Kashmir residents has also been
raised with Bejing.
"As India and China continue to pursue their interests,
and so long as their overwhelming preoccupation remains their
domestic transformation, and both understand that this goal
requires a peaceful periphery, it is my firm conviction that
the element of competition in the bilateral relationship can
be managed and the element of congruence can be built upon,"
Rao said. MORE PTI