India has indicated that it will not show any haste in inking the Border Defence Cooperation Agree-ment (BDCA) with China. The agreement was proposed by Beijing some months ago. It has also said it will take substantial time for such a pact to come to fruition.
The BDCA was proposed by the Chinese shortly before a border incursion by PLA troops in April in the Depsang bulge area of Ladakh. India has already given its response to the draft proposed by the Chinese. On Monday, external affairs minister Salman Khurshid said, “We don’t want to do anything in haste. We don’t want any regrets caused by haste.”
His remarks come close on the heels of the 16th round of Special Representative-level talks held to settle the border issue in Beijing over the weekend. He said India’s SR, national security adviser Shivshankar Menon, had “a good, useful meeting” with the focus being on peace and tranquillity along the border and a peaceful resolution of the border issue.
Having faced the three-week border incursion by the Chinese and flummoxed by the reasons for it, a wary New Delhi wants to tread with caution as far as the BDCA is concerned. The border issue may figure in the bilateral talks that Mr Khurshid is expected to have with his Chinese counterpart, Li Kequiang, on the margins of the Asean Regional Forum and East Asia Summit foreign ministers meeting which takes place here on Tuesday.
Mr Khurshid was to have met the Chinese foreign minister on Monday but the meeting was postponed owing to scheduling issues. If the meeting happens, it will be the second one between the two leaders in the last two months.
The BDCA is also expected to be discussed when defence minister A.K. Antony visits Beijing on July 4. The proposed pact essentially deals with managing things in a better manner along the order. The Chinese in their draft have suggested that there be no further increase in troops levels along the Line of Actual Control.