PM talks to Wen on visas, Arunachal

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India raised the issue of “stapled” visas as well its other core concern — China’s claims over Arunachal Pradesh — when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao on the sidelines of the Asean-East Asia Summit in Hanoi on Friday.

India’s national security adviser Shivshankar Menon said on Friday after the much-awaited 45-minute meeting between the two Prime Ministers was over: “The talks covered the entire range of difficult issues” — diplomatic code for India bringing up its two core issues with the Chinese leader.
Mr Menon said: “All issues were discussed and we have been directed to work our way towards finding solutions to these problems... The Prime Minister has said we needed to show sensitivity to each other’s core issues.”
But sources confirmed that “stapled visas were brought up, as well as China’s presence in Pakistan-occupied Kash-mir,” but given the short time at hand, talks could not be held at length.
Clearly, the announcement by the Chinese Premier when he met Dr Singh in Hanoi that he will visit India by the end of this year, possibly by December 16, opens up the scope for a full-fledged dialogue on all the core issues that bedevil Sino-Indian relations, particularly China’s calculated policy shift on Kashmir, its issuance of stapled visas, construction activity in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and its claims over the state of Arunachal Pradesh, which China describes as a part of Tibet. China remains concerned over India’s Dalai Lama card, and has taken a tougher line on the Tibetan leader despite India’s efforts to see it does not upset Beijing.
Mr Wen Jiabao, under a cloud after the Chinese Communist Party’s official mouthpiece People’s Daily roundly attacked his call for greater freedoms as a prerequisite for economic growth, extended a cautious olive branch that was reciprocated by Dr Singh during the meeting on Friday.
“I did a small calculation, this is our 10th meeting and each meeting was very productive,” Mr Wen said. He added, in a nod to Dr Singh’s overture to China in Malaysia: “You have said on many occasions that there is enough space in the world for India and China to achieve common development. On the top of your remarks, I add that there is enough space in the world for India and China to have cooperation.” He added: “I suggest we discuss and reach a consensus on some major aspects so as to lay a foundation for the visit.”
Dr Singh, in turn, said that every meeting between the two men had been “a very rewarding experience for me.”
In his post-meeting briefing, Mr Shivshankar Menon said he was “conscious” of China’s trade imbalance with India and spelt out the steps that he had taken to redress the imbalance. Trade between the two countries in the last nine months alone was at $45 billion, and was expected to touch $60 billion, he said, adding that “there is some diminishing of the imbalance.”
Mr Wen Jiabao’s December visit is to be preceded by that of a senior Communist Party official Zhou Yuo Kang, who ranks seventh in the party politburo. Given his seniority in the party hierarchy, his visit could give India a broader, clear pointer on the issues of difference, Mr Menon said.
A meeting between the two nation’s special representatives (Mr Menon and Chinese state councillor Dai Bingguo) will also take place before the end of November to resume talks on the lingering boundary dispute.