Shrugging aside recent diplomatic wrangles, India and China are all set to ink a new boundary mechanism to prevent flare-ups along the 4,057-km-long unresolved Line of Actual Control (LAC) that separates the world’s two largest armies.
The mechanism will be finalised during the 15th round of special representative (SR)-level talks between India and China beginning here on Monday. During the two-day talks, the Indian side will be led by national security adviser Shivshankar Menon, while the Chinese side will be headed by top Chinese diplomat, state councillor Dai Bingguo.
The mechanism being envisaged will have New Delhi and Beijing in real-time contact in case of any violation of the LAC. However, unlike the direct hotline between the DGMOs of India and Pakistan, what is on the anvil is regular contact between the joint secretary (east Asia) in the ministry of external affairs and the Chinese director-general of the department of boundary and ocean affairs.
The mechanism is expected to ensure regular meetings between the two sides and emergency meetings if required to prevent flare-ups along the LAC.
The Indian side will also have officials from the ministries of defence and home apart from representatives from the Army, the paramilitary forces and intelligence agencies.
China’s recent visa denial to an IAF officer from Arunachal Pradesh, who was to be part of a military delegation, and the problems faced by two Indian traders in Yiwu in China are also expected to figure in the discussions.
The SR talks will, of course, also focus on working out the framework for delineating the Indo-China border on the map which has long troubled relations between the two countries. Mr Menon, incidentally, said earlier this week, “The boundary question remains unresolved, and there is no denying that it is a difficult issue… On the settlement itself, we are in the second stage of the three-stage process of agreeing principles, a framework and finally a boundary line.
The idea for the new border mechanism first came from Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao when he visited New Delhi in December 2010. After this, the two sides reached an “in principle” agreement on it when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh went to Sanya, China, in April 2011. The Cabinet Committee on Security headed by the PM gave its nod to the proposed mechanism recently.
The SR talks were initially scheduled for November but were called off after a diplomatic fracas between New Delhi and Beijing. The latter wanted New Delhi to cancel a Buddhist congregation where the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama was slated to speak. With New Delhi refusing, the talks were off.