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India, China agree on timeframe to clarify LAC
In their attempt to improve bilateral ties, India and China on Friday agreed on a timeframe for clarification of the Line of Actual Control that divides the two countries and also decided to have a series of high-level meetings in the next six months including the first-ever dialogue on counter-terrorism.
In their attempt to improve bilateral ties, India and China on Friday agreed on a timeframe for clarification of the Line of Actual Control that divides the two countries and also decided to have a series of high-level meetings in the next six months including the first-ever dialogue on counter-terrorism.
The two sides have agreed to exchange sample maps of the Western sector at the next meeting of the experts group on the boundary issue and complete the process by the end of the year, External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh told reporters after wide-ranging talks with his Chinese counterpart Tang Jiaxuan shortly after his arrival here on a five-day visit.
Thereafter, the two sides would begin the process of exchange of maps on the LAC in the eastern sector early next year, he said.
The two countries have completed confirmation and clarification of the middle sector of the LAC.
Singh announced the first meeting of the annual bilateral dialogue mechansim on counter-terrorism will be held in New Delhi on April 23.
"The establishment of this comprehensive programme of dialogue on various subjects, the efforts of the last four years or so to put India-China relations on a certain fixed and predictable rail have now borne tangible results," he said.
Singh announced Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee would visit China later this year. The Chinese Government has welcomed the proposal for a visit by Defence Minister George Fernandes to this country at a mutually convenient date, he said.
Stating that his talks with Tang and other Chinese leaders were "very productive and comprehensive", Singh said the "substantial decisions" imparting dynamism to Sino-indian relations was "significant."
He said the third bilateral security dialogue will be held here in July-August this year and the 14th session of the Joint working Group on the boundary issue will be held in New Delhi in August-September this year.
The next meeting of the Eminent Persons` Group comprising leading personalities from various disciplines will be held in Beijing in May.
Significantly, China on Friday announced India would be included in the list of designated countries for Chinese tourists.
The minister said the two sides had agreed on easing grant of visas on a reciprocal basis.
"We are moving away from the shadow of history and to the sunlight of on Saturday." Singh said adding both sides were working for deepening and strengthening bilateral relations.
On the boundary question, Singh said what his Government has inherited was a problem 50 years old. "I would first move on the LAC, around the LAC, define the difference and thereafter strengthen the existing confidence-building measures and then move on to the boundary question," he said stressing he wouldn`t like to do so in an adhoc manner.
Asked whether Indo-Pak issues figured during his parleys, Singh said the focal point was not Pakistan but India-China relations.
Singh, who is meeting Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji on Saturday, said the focus of his parleys would be on trade and economic issues. He said both sides felt that the present trade level on 3.6 billion US dollars was "grossly unsatisfactory" and there was vast potential to substantially increase this quantum.
The minister, who arrived this morning on the inaugural direct New Delhi flight on a five-day visit, said this was the "first step" among many that was required to boost bilateral trade.
During the parleys, the need to have more non-LAC related confidence building measure was emphasised, he said.
The minister said next month`s dialogue on counter terrorism would be led by a joint Secretary in the MEA with concerned representive from other departmants.
Singh held separate meetings with Vice Premier Qian Qichen and Dai Bingguo, minister in the International Liaison Department of the Communist Party of China.
Bureau Report
The two sides have agreed to exchange sample maps of the Western sector at the next meeting of the experts group on the boundary issue and complete the process by the end of the year, External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh told reporters after wide-ranging talks with his Chinese counterpart Tang Jiaxuan shortly after his arrival here on a five-day visit.
Thereafter, the two sides would begin the process of exchange of maps on the LAC in the eastern sector early next year, he said.
The two countries have completed confirmation and clarification of the middle sector of the LAC.
Singh announced the first meeting of the annual bilateral dialogue mechansim on counter-terrorism will be held in New Delhi on April 23.
"The establishment of this comprehensive programme of dialogue on various subjects, the efforts of the last four years or so to put India-China relations on a certain fixed and predictable rail have now borne tangible results," he said.
Singh announced Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee would visit China later this year. The Chinese Government has welcomed the proposal for a visit by Defence Minister George Fernandes to this country at a mutually convenient date, he said.
Stating that his talks with Tang and other Chinese leaders were "very productive and comprehensive", Singh said the "substantial decisions" imparting dynamism to Sino-indian relations was "significant."
He said the third bilateral security dialogue will be held here in July-August this year and the 14th session of the Joint working Group on the boundary issue will be held in New Delhi in August-September this year.
The next meeting of the Eminent Persons` Group comprising leading personalities from various disciplines will be held in Beijing in May.
Significantly, China on Friday announced India would be included in the list of designated countries for Chinese tourists.
The minister said the two sides had agreed on easing grant of visas on a reciprocal basis.
"We are moving away from the shadow of history and to the sunlight of on Saturday." Singh said adding both sides were working for deepening and strengthening bilateral relations.
On the boundary question, Singh said what his Government has inherited was a problem 50 years old. "I would first move on the LAC, around the LAC, define the difference and thereafter strengthen the existing confidence-building measures and then move on to the boundary question," he said stressing he wouldn`t like to do so in an adhoc manner.
Asked whether Indo-Pak issues figured during his parleys, Singh said the focal point was not Pakistan but India-China relations.
Singh, who is meeting Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji on Saturday, said the focus of his parleys would be on trade and economic issues. He said both sides felt that the present trade level on 3.6 billion US dollars was "grossly unsatisfactory" and there was vast potential to substantially increase this quantum.
The minister, who arrived this morning on the inaugural direct New Delhi flight on a five-day visit, said this was the "first step" among many that was required to boost bilateral trade.
During the parleys, the need to have more non-LAC related confidence building measure was emphasised, he said.
The minister said next month`s dialogue on counter terrorism would be led by a joint Secretary in the MEA with concerned representive from other departmants.
Singh held separate meetings with Vice Premier Qian Qichen and Dai Bingguo, minister in the International Liaison Department of the Communist Party of China.
Bureau Report