New Delhi, June 14: Asserting that India and China were strategically placed to influence the course of events in the region over the next few decades, deputy chairman of Planning Commission K C Pant today said establishing stable and constructive relationship was in the mutual interest of the two countries. The main issue plaguing the bilateral relationship has been the unsettled boundary dispute and the dialogue process with regard to Line of Actual Control (LAC), which has been "painstakingly slow", has to be accelerated, Pant said at an interactive session on 'Prime minister's visit to China and Indo-China relations' here.
India and China were committed to settling this contentious issue through the dialogue process initiated in 1988 and expert groups have been meeting at regular intervals to discuss finer points in this regard, he said. Pant said the "animosity" between the two countries in the early 80's was replaced by a relative degree of warmth after the visit of then Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi to China in 1988 and added that the process would be carried forward during Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's visit later this month.
"We have been holding bilateral dialogue on security issues since the year 2000... It is to be noted that our security dialogue has been extended to an area which is of universal concern the world over - international terrorism," he said. "The fact that such a dialogue is being held with China indicates the high degree of commonality in our perceptions with regard to this area of international security," said Pant. Bureau Report