New Delhi, Sept 16: India and China are likely to hold the first meeting of their special representatives to discuss the protracted boundary problem next month. The two sides were working on mutually-convenient dates for the meeting between Brajesh Mishra, National Security Advisor and senior Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo here, official sources said.
During his visit to China in June, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had proposed the appointment of special representatives to discuss the unresolved boundary issue with a political perspective and the two sides had promptly announced the names of Mishra and Dai for the task.
The need for addressing the issue at a faster pace was felt as no solution was in sight despite 14 meetings of the joint working group on the boundary question.
New Delhi holds that China illegally claims approximately 90,000 sq kms of Indian territory in the eastern sector of the Sino-India boundary in Arunachal Pradesh.
It maintains that china also continues to be in illegal occupation of about 38,000 sq kms in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. In addition, under the so-called Sino-Pakistan boundary agreement of 1963, Pakistan illegally ceded 5,180 sq kms of Indian territory in Pakistan occupied Kashmir to China.
Bureau Report