Brasilia, April 15: The much-awaited meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese President Hu Jintao on the sidelines of the twin IBSA-BRIC summits here on Thursday appeared to have avoided all contentious issues between the two countries, focusing largely on trade and investment and strengthening the bilateral relationship.
The two leaders agreed to intensify efforts to resolve the boundary dispute, further their strategic partnership, maintain close coodination on terrorism and climate change issues, and facilitate greater market access for each other’s products.
The two sides agreed that the two special representatives would meet as soon as possible to discuss the boundary question, but no specific dates were fixed. The Prime Minister introduced national security adviser Shivshankar Menon, named the new Indian special representative some weeks back, succeeding M.K. Narayanan, to the Chinese President. Mr Menon also discussed the boundary question with Chinese special representative Dai Bingguo, who was also present.
The security advisers of India, China, Brazil and Russia also met to take stock of security-related affairs, sources said.
The 45-minute meeting between the Prime Minister and the Chinese President at Hotel Grand Bittar in the centre of Brasilia, which had to be hurriedly advanced as Mr Hu decided to leave for home on Thursday, instead of Friday, due to the massive earthquake there earlier this week, is understood to have sidestepped all contentious issues such as stapled visas and cyber warfare directed against India from Chinese soil.
MEA spokesman Vishnu Prakash said both sides decided to strengthen strategic relations and deepen cooperation in defence, trade, agriculture and technology sectors. “Both sides agreed that they were not competitors, but partners,” Mr Prakash said. He acknowledged that there were some “divergencies”, such as on stapled visas for Kashmiris, but said these should “not weigh us down”. The spokesman added that over time, the “divergencies have been decreasing
steadily”, and the “convergencies are growing”. He described trade as the “pillar” of the India-China relationship.
Greeting Dr Singh, President Hu said he was looking forward to warmly welcoming President Pratibha Patil in Beijing next month. Dr Singh told Mr Hu: “It is always a matter of great pleasure to meet you.” Speaking of his earlier meetings with Mr Hu and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, Dr Singh said he had “become wiser” after these interactions.
Mr Hu thanked the Prime Minister for being understanding about the need to reschedule the BRIC summit (which was merged with the IBSA summit on Thursday, instead of being held on Friday as scheduled) as he had to return to China on Thursday night. “I am sorry for any inconvenience to you,” Mr Hu told Dr Singh. The Prime Minister expressed sorrow and grief at the loss of lives and property in the earthquake and offered India`s readiness to help the injured and the displaced.
Later in the day, addressing the plenary session of the IBSA summit, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh felt there “is an urgent need for reform of the United Nations, including the Security Council, by making it more democratic and representative.” He said the beginning of “text-based negotiations” at the UN from April was a “positive development, made possible due to the efforts of the G-4 and South Africa.”
Dr Singh cautioned that terrorism continued to pose a major challenge to development goals. “It is a scourge that needs to be fought through collective international effort,” Dr Singh said, adding that all-out efforts should be made for the “early finalisation of a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism at the UN.”
He also pointed that though the “critical phase of the global economy is behind us, the process of recovery is still fragile and uneven.” Dr Singh emphasised that “we need to ensure that we do not repeat past mistakes.”
The Prime Minister said that food security remained a major issue globally. “IBSA can contribute to the shaping of the global agenda and highlighting issues of concern to developing countries,” he said.
Sanjay Basak