Beijing: India and China today held their fourth round of strategic dialogue to discuss a host of issues such as New Delhi's concerns relating to issuance of stapled visas by Beijing for Kashmiris and its bid for a permanent
seat on the UN Security Council.
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, who headed the Indian
delegation, held talks with her Chinese counterpart Vice
Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun here.
The talks are regarded as a part of wider consultative
process to prepare the ground work for next month's visit of
Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao to New Delhi.
Rao's talks came close on the heels of a lengthy
bilateral meeting between External Affairs Minister S M
Krishna and his Chinese counterpart Yang Jeichi on the
sidelines of RIC Foreign Ministers summit at Wuhan in China.
The two ministers had covered a host of issues
relating to mutual concerns. The strategic dialogue was
regarded as more informal forum where the two sides were
expected to exchange views on bilateral, regional and global
issues in detail.
India is looking to China to address its major
concerns like stapled visas being issued to residents of Jammu and Kashmir by Beijing despite its protests.
The issue turned out to be a major stumbling block in
bilateral ties as the recent refusal of visa to top Indian
General B S Jaswal on the ground that he headed troops of
Northern Command, which included Jammu and Kashmir, resulted
in India putting a hold on defence exchanges with China.
Also the endorsement of India's candidature for the
permanent seat in the UNSC by US President Barrack Obama
during his visit to New Delhi has left only China among the
five veto wielding members of the UNSC to take a stand on it
as the other four has tentatively indicated their support.
Also a host of other issues including India's concerns
over China's plans to build a dam over Brahmaputra river and
reported presence of Chinese personnel for various projects in
Pakistan-occupied Kashmir were expected to figure in the
talks.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, November 16, 2010, 12:16