By IANS,
New Delhi: The recent tension between India and China “intensifies the need” for the two sides “to sit down and resolve” the border issue, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said.
“In fact, the focus that has been given to both the incursions and also to the Arunachal Pradesh issue, I think only intensifies the need for the two sides to really sit down to resolve these issues with even more seriousness and determination,” Rao said in an interview broadcast on All India Radio Thursday night.
India’s top diplomat, who was the envoy in Beijing before taking up her present assignment, added that both governments understood that “a peaceful relationship between India and China is not only good for the two countries but it is good for this region, it is good globally also”.
In recent weeks, the relations between the two Asian giants have been strained. It started with reports in the Indian media reports on alleged incursions by Chinese troops on the disputed Himalayan border. This led to combative reports in the media of both countries.
This week, China’s protest to the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Arunachal Pradesh, a northeastern province over which the Beijing claims ownership,
led to strong reactions from India.
The Indian foreign office reiterated that Arunachal Pradesh was an integral part of India.
India also lodged a protest over reports of China helping in projects in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. On Thursday, India said that it would check if China is building a massive dam on Brahmaputra river in Tibet, which would adversely affect the downstream population here.
“But whatever it is, we must take a realistic view that there are differences, there are differences when it comes to perceiving the line of actual control in the border areas. And there are differences also in terms of conflicting territorial claims,” Rao said, adding that it was “one of the most complicated boundary questions that exist anywhere in the world”.
India says China is in illegal occupation of about 38,000 sq km of Jammu and Kashmir, in addition to the territory ceded by Pakistan. China claims 90,000 sq km of Indian territory along the Arunachal Pradesh border.
The foreign secretary admitted “there was still a lot of ground that we have to cover in terms of narrowing differences and building more understanding”, but felt that progress was being made, “albeit slowly but it is being made surely”.
She said the special representatives deputed to discuss the border issue had held 13 meetings so far.
Asserting that dialogue was the only way out, she quoted India’s first prime minister, saying, “I remember our first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, speaking to parliament in 1962 saying ‘we cannot march to Peking’ and I am quoting his words”.
On a question on Dalai Lama’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh, she added that India regarded him as a spiritual figure who does not indulge in political activities on Indian soil.
“He is a religious figure and he does not indulge in political activities on Indian soil and he is our guest in India and he is free to visit any part of our country,” Rao said.