by Pratap Chakravarty
NEW DELHI, July 10 – Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha said Thursday that preparations were underway for the first high-level talks with China to resolve a border dispute that led the two Asian neighbours to war in 1962.
Sinha also asserted the nations have also “largely resolved” a dispute that erupted over China’s refusal to accept Sikkim as an Indian state since the former protectorate was merged with India in 1975.
He argued that Bejing’s readiness to reopen a trade corridor between Sikkim and Tibet during Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s June 22-28 trip to China amounted to recognition of Sikkim as Indian territory.
“If you look at the memorandum of understanding on border trade, there are expressions in it which clearly show that the issue of Sikkim has been largely resolved,” he told the Press Trust of India, referring to the pact inked by Vajpayee and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.
Sinha hinted China could fully recognize Sikkim as an Indian state but stressed the issue would not cloud bilateral ties.
“Formalities may take their own time (but) this is not an issue on which we should continue to remain concerned or worried about,” Sinha said.
China, however, claims the declaration signed in Beijing is India’s explicit recognition of Tibet as a part of China.
India, home to Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, has held that it accepts China’s “suzerainty” and not its sovereignty over the Himalayan territory — acknowledging Beijing’s rule of Tibet in a feudal sense.
The declaration in Beijing held that the Tibet Autonomous Region was part of the People’s Republic of China.
“I don’t know what we have conceded. I am still waiting for somebody to come and explain it to me where we have made a departure on Tibet,” Sinha told the news agency.
India has repeatedly denied suggestions that the concessions it offered on Tibet were to gain trading rights through Sikkim, a state of 500,000 people largely dependent on state-offered dole.
India feels the reopening of the route across Nathu La, India’s highest mountain pass at 15,000 feet (4,545 metres), would rev up trade in the Himalayan region.
“The language of the declaration needs no further definition. When we are saying Sikkim state, as a sovereign country, we obviously can’t be talking about a state in some other country. We can talk about a state only in our country,” he said.
With respect to the border dispute between India and China, Sinha said “preparations are afoot for a meeting” between India’s National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra and China’s senior vice foreign minister.
“It will not be a social meeting. In order to be meaningful and purposeful, it will have to be a meeting with a great deal of preparations from both sides.
“I have reasons to believe that kind of preparation is in hand,” Sinha added.
India accuses China of occupying 38,000 square kilometres (14,670 square miles) of territory in Kashmir while Beijing lays claim to 90,000 square kilometres (34,750 square miles) of land in Arunachal Pradesh — virtually the entire state.
Lower-ranking officials from the two sides have met 15 times in as many years without a resolution.
