India,China not to push pace of boundary talks: Salman Khurshid
India and China have held 16 rounds of boundary talks to resolve the contentious issue.
India and China have decided “not to push the pace” of their boundary negotiations and resolve the issue “step-by-step”,External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid has said.
Khurshid,during an interview to a delegation of Chinese journalists,said,”There is our common endeavour and effort to move step-by-step toward resolving our boundary issue. I think we can say with satisfaction the Special Representatives and other mechanisms in place are moving steadily.”
“We have decided not to push the pace so that it gives way rather than continuing to make progress,” he said,ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s planned visit to Beijing next month.
India asserts that the boundary dispute covered about 4000 kilometres,while China claims that it is confined to about 2000 kilometres to the area of Arunachal Pradesh,which it refers as Southern Tibet.
Special Representatives of India and China have held 16 rounds of boundary talks to resolve the contentious issue. Khurshid,in the interview published in the state-run Global Times,also talked about the importance of Singh’s visit to Beijing next month.
“We are very honoured and pleased that Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s first stop outside the country as prime minister was in India” this year,he said.
“That is an important and significant indication of our relationship coming from your side…Our prime minister has made a personal investment in improving the relationship between the two leaderships. We would like to see even more visits from China,” Khurshid said.
Khurshid also responded to the “frustration” expressed by Chinese telecom companies Huawei and ZTE in their efforts to expand into the Indian market and the difficulties faced by Chinese investors.
“The telecom and electronics sector you mentioned is special. I don’t think the concern felt by Chinese industry vis-a-vis those sectors is common across the board with other Chinese equipment and products,” Khurshid said.
“There is a concern that is partly protection of Indian manufacturers,partly the security issue involved in electronics. I think we are resolving it,” he said. “Even within our own government,there is a different view of how much concern should be followed and towards what extent. This is only a learning experience,because this is something relatively new to the Indian market. These are the matters that will be sorted out and resolved,” he added.
Asked about how to balance public opinion on foreign policy issues voiced actively through internet platforms,he said “social media has been a great asset. But in some cases it has tried to bypass existing systems,which is not a good thing.”
“People have to understand governance and the structure of government,and the structure of democracy. That can be easily undermined by social media that has no social responsibility,” Khurshid said. “If you try to restrict it,people complain about the censorship and lack of freedom and so on. We have to find a balance. Freedom comes with responsibility,” the External Affairs Minister said.
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