By IANS,
New Delhi : External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna found himself on the mat in the Rajya Sabha Thursday when asked about the number of Chinese incursions into Indian territory in the last two years – he didn’t have the precise figures.
“There has been no increase in the number of incursions. I will pass on the information to the honourable member,” Krishna said in reply to a supplementary from Ravi Shankar Prasad of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during question hour.
This did not satisfy Prasad who said: “I had asked a specific question on the number of Chinese incursions in 2008 and 2009. The minister is not prepared, he should have statistics.”
Krishna replied: “I will share it with you and the house.”
“This is an assurance,” Chairman Hamid Ansari ruled and moved to the next question.
Replying to the main question, Krishna said: “There has been no increase in incidents of incursions in the recent past. The two countries have agreed to maintain peace and tranquillity (on the border) without prejudice to their stand on the alignment (of the frontier).”
“The government considers the (border) question to be a bilateral one and does not advocate discussions with other countries or international bodies,” he added.
Replying to a supplementary on the manner of dealing with incursions if an when they occur, Krishna said: “There is an established mechanism within which the matter gets settled at the field level itself. There is confusion (on the alignment of the boundary) but there is nothing to be alarmed about.”
Asked about the status of talks to resolve the boundary issue, Krishna said these were conducted at the political, field and diplomatic levels. “Recently, the prime minister had an exchange of views with the Chinese prime minister in Thailand,” he added.
In this context, he pointed to the 13 meetings the special representatives of the two countries had held so far, adding: “They are due to meet again. We are hoping that in the course of future meetings, we will be able to come to an amicable solution.”
Replying to a supplementary on China improving infrastructure on its side of the border, Krishna said: “The Chinese government is free to build infrastructure on its territory as we are free to do on our side.”
The minister, however, dodged a question on India stopping the construction of a road in Ladakh after the Chinese government objected to it, merely saying that “we have never said there is no (border) dispute”.
Responding to a supplementary on the construction of roads in those portions of Kashmir that China or Pakistan control, Krishna said the question had been taken up with Beijing.
“China has accepted that Kashmir is a disputed area to be settled bilaterally between India and Pakistan,” he added.
The minister termed as “unacceptable” the Chinese move to staple visas on the passports of the residents of Jammu and Kashmir instead of pasting them.
“We have taken a decision that unless there is stamping of the visa on an Indian passport, any other document is not recognised. So stapling of visas is not acceptable,” Krishna maintained.