Manmohan meets Wen - China and India launch the era of Asian Golden Age
Harish Baliga
Apr. 10, 2005

Manmohan and Wen made it right. The era of Asian Golden Age is on! The border disputes are behind. The two giant economic engine is to work together for glory in trade, technology and more!

According to media reports, ahead of Monday's talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao, the Foreign Secretaries of the two countries today reviewed the agenda for the summit-level meeting.

Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran and his Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei are understood to have discussed the guiding principles that are expected to be thrashed out by the two Prime Ministers to resolve the long-standing boundary dispute between the two neighbours.

The agenda for Monday's talks is expected to get a final shape tomorrow after a meeting between the Special Representatives of the two countries National Secrurity Adviser M K Narayanan and Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo.

This will be the fifth round of the crucial boundary talks at the Special Representatives level between the two economic giants who have now shifted focus on developing a bilateral economic relationship rather that sticking to the stereotyped boundary dispute. Four rounds of the boundary talks have been held so far. Of the four, two rounds were held by the then National Security Advisor (NSA) Brajesh Mishra and the other two by J N Dixit.

Both countries have expressed confidence that the boundary issue would be resolved by the two countries in a mutually-acceptable way.

A senior official of the External Affairs Ministry, when asked to elaborate on the "guiding principles," said these are important for both countries in terms of security interests.

"The visit (of the Chinese Premier) to India is a very deliberate effort to project that India-China relations are not adversarial and to show that there is enough space for both countries to come together...The guiding principles are important for both countries in terms of security interests," the sources said.

The sources said the discussions are expected to cover issues related to the India-China boundary question, including the Special Representatives, Confidence-Building Measures and clarification and confirmation of the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The Special Representatives of the two countries have been engaged in discussions to explore from the political perspective the overall bilateral relations and the framework of a boundary settlement.

The official said that tomorrow's discussions would open a new phase in the relations between the two countries towards firming up a framework for settlement of the boundary question.

He described the negotiations held so far as "difficult" saying couple of elements still remained to be finalised about the "political parameters and guiding principles" which would be discussed in tomorrow's meeting between the two Special Representatives. Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran had met Dai Bingguo in Beijing during his visit to China on March 30-31 and conveyed to him Narayanan's invitation to visit India for talks on the boundary question.

Dai had said he looked forward to continuing the dialogue in the Special Representatives process. Both sides exchanged views on the positive developments in the ongoing process of settlement of the boundary question from the overall perspective of the bilateral relations.

Saran was in China for the 15th round of the Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting of the India-China boundary issue. During the JWG meting, both sides had reviewed the ongoing process of LAC clarification and confidence building measures. The discussions marked a resumption of dialogue in the JWG process after a gap of two and a half years.

They had highlighted the importance of the implementation of the bilateral agreements of 1993 and 1996 for maintenance of peace and tranquillity and for furthering confidence building measures in border areas so as to promote mutual trust and confidence which is essential for the objective of a settlement of the boundary question. Chinese leaders have expressed the hope that both countries would be able to reach a settlement on the border dispute during Wen Jiabao's visit to India.

The Special Representative mechanism was created during the visit of the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to China in June 2003. During the visit, both sides agreed to appoint their respeective Special Representative to explore, from the political perspective of the overall bilateral relationship, the framework of a boundary settlement. Brajesh Mishra was appointed India's first Special Representative to hold boundary talks with China.

The boundary issue between the two Asian neighbours has been lingering on for many decades. While India says China is illegally occupying 43,180 sq km of the Jammu and Kashmir territory, including 5,180 sq km illegally ceded to Beijing by Pakistan, China accuses India of possessing about 90,000 sq km of their territory, in Arunachal Pradesh, which they consider "disputed."

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