Beijing: India and China have agreed to "appropriately resolve" the issue of stapled visas to the residents of Jammu and Kashmir with an understanding that officials will continue to meet on the issue, Indian envoy to China S Jaishankar said on Sunday, following Premier Wen Jiabao`s visit to New Delhi.
The issue of issuance of stapled visas to residents
of Jammu and Kashmir, which has raised concerns of sovereignty
and integrity of India, figured prominently during the
bilateral talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Wen.
Speaking at a prime time show on the state-run CCTV
here, Jaishankar said stapled visas was one of issues that
"caught a lot of attention" during the visit of Wen.
"This (stapled visas) caused a lot public resentment
in India. Here again it was candidly discussed, (during the
talks between Wen and Singh).
"There was an understanding that officials will meet
and this would be appropriately resolved. Few months from now
if I am sitting with you I might give you more positive
outlook on this issue," he said, adding the issue raised
concerns over the sovereignty and integrity of India.
The differences over the unsettled border issues also
figured high in the Wen-Singh talks.
"Border is complicated issue. It is a border of 3500
km (Chinese official media says only 2000 km omitting about
1600 km on the Jammu and Kashmir front) most of it is
unsettled. So it is complicated negotiations" being conducted
by the Special Representatives of both the countries, he said.
The two sides held the 14th round of border talks
before Wen`s visit to India.
"The most important development so far is that borders
remained peaceful and tranquil and that we have agreements in
1993, 1996 and 2005 to ensure nothing goes wrong at the
borders. With 3500 km long borders anything can go wrong," he
said.
So far "we actually worked guiding principles and
political parameters on how to settle the border. So we have a
framework in which we are actually moving to settle the
border," he said.
"This comes down to practicalities on the ground," he
said stressing that patience is required.
Jaishankar sounded upbeat about achieving the USD 100
billion trade target set for 2015 and was positive on the
Premier`s promise that China will be "more open" to prime
Indian products like IT, pharmaceuticals and agro products.
"Let me make a prediction. We will reach the goal much
faster than 2015. I think to reach it what we need to see is
much more balanced trade picture," he said.
He insisted that the positive outcome of the visit was
the assurance to address longstanding Indian concerns of
market access to Chinese markets.
"We heard directly from the Prime Minister himself
that China would be more open in all these areas," he said.
Meanwhile, speaking at a prime time show on the state-run
CCTV here today, Indian envoy to China S Jaishankar said the
differences over the unsettled border issues had figured high
in the talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese
Premier Wen Jiabao in New Delhi this week.
"Border is complicated issue. It is a border of 3,500
km, most of it is unsettled. So it is complicated
negotiations" being conducted by the Special Representatives
of both the countries, he said.
The two sides held the 14th round of border talks
before Wen`s visit to India.
"The most important development so far is that borders
remained peaceful and tranquil and that we have agreements in
1993, 1996 and 2005 to ensure nothing goes wrong at the
borders. With 3,500 km long borders anything can go wrong,"
Jaishankar said.
So far "we actually worked guiding principles and
political parameters on how to settle the border. So we have a
framework in which we are actually moving to settle the
border," he said.
"This comes down to practicalities on the ground," he
said, stressing that patience is required.
PTI
