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| Monday, 26 July 2004 |
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India's new Govt readies for talks with China NEW DELHI, Sunday (AFP) India's government will have its first top-level contact with China since taking office in May, when a new round of talks on their dragging border dispute starts today, but experts warn against high expectations. The discussions between National Security Advisor J.N. Dixit and his Chinese counterpart, Dai Bingguo, will be the third round since June last year, when the two sides appointed special representatives during a historic trip to China by then Indian prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. Indian officials appeared cautious on the eve of the New Delhi talks, which are scheduled to last two days. "A new dispensation in New Delhi does not mean that the two sides will start afresh, but the reality is that Mr Dai will have to deal with a new special representative," a senior foreign ministry official said. Dai, currently vice foreign minister, first met Dixit when the Indian official visited China in 1993 as then foreign secretary. "And in this light the two sides are likely to explore new areas for a convergence of views," said the official, who asked to remain anonymous. Earlier this month, China said the upcoming talks, the second since January, were aimed at "finding the guiding principles" for a solution to the border row, which remains unresolved despite 10 rounds of Sino-Indian talks since 1988 between junior officials. During Vajpayee's talks in Beijing, the two sides agreed to reopen the Nathu La Pass between Chinese-ruled Tibet and Sikkim, a former protectorate which New Delhi annexed in 1975. India interprets the pact on the Nathu La Pass as the first, if tacit, recognition by China of Sikkim as an Indian state. On its part, India, slightly shifting its stance, described Tibet as an integral territory of China. Experts interpreted the Chinese statement as a warning against high expectations from the upcoming talks. "When they talk of 'guiding principles' it interprets as: "Don't expect the problem to be solved in one go'," said Ashwani Kumar Roy, an Indian expert on Sino-Indian relations. "Both sides, especially the Chinese, want to discount any possibility of high expectations but it is a positive sign as they will be exploring a roadmap for the future talks," said Roy, a professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University. "This meeting will be a testing of the waters particularly by China as India has a new government and Dixit is seen as a hawk who does not like to compromise on Indian interests," Roy said. |
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