Himalayan task

Chinese foreign minister Tang Jiaxuan8217;s arrival in Delhi over the weekend, and the meetings with his Indian counterpart Jaswant Singh and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, have once more raised hopes about the improvement in relations between the world8217;s two largest countries. Expectations are high on both sides, especially given the post-Pokharan chill that had, since May 1998, frozen bilateral relations between the two neighbours. The visit of Indian President K.R. Narayanan to Beijing this May marked the beginning of the thaw. And now the visit of the Chinese foreign minister 8212; after several years 8212; is expected to renew the high-level engagement between the two Asian giants. Tang, on his part, has already declared that part of the purpose behind the mission is to hasten the slow pace of negotiations between the two countries on the ticklish border issue. Fortunately, there is a consensus between the two countries on the subject. After all, the two agreements signed in 1993 and in 1996 commit eachother to respect the common line of actual control LAC. Proceeding onwards from there, with the two previous commitments as the basic framework for the talks, should bring about a qualitative transformation in India-China ties.

Yet major differences continue to persist on the exact location of the LAC in some areas, right from Aksai Chin in eastern Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh in the east. Admittedly, the process of delineating the LAC is a Himalayan task, but it is likely to proceed rather smoothly given the new environment of friendship being created by the visits of high-level dignitaries on both sides. The long-festering boundary dispute can only be sorted out if both sides display total trust and faith in each other, of that there can be little doubt. What has led to the weakening of that trust is the reported help China is providing Pakistan on the missile and nuclear front. News sources in the United States are replete with reports of such clandestine support.Acirc;micro; In a private interview on the subject of Chinese support to the missile programme in Pakistan, Tang clarified recently that while China and Pakistan enjoy normal relations between sovereign countries, including the relations of military trade, which conform to international law and norms, his country 8212; as as a close neighbour of both India and Pakistan 8212; 8220;wants to see peace and stability, not arms race in South Asia8221;. This is all very well, but Tang needs to realise that 8220;peace and stability8221; in the region cannot be achieved by China surreptitiously supplying missile technology to Pakistan even as it continues to be vociferously critical of India8217;s nuclear programme. Although hopes are high in New Delhi, with Tang8217;s visit, for an improvement in bilateral relations, the Chinese foreign minister8217;s visit to Islamabad is going to be carefully followed by observers, not just in this country but all over the world. The keywords in this engagement are really transparency8217; and trust8217; and, hopefully, the Tangvisit would help towards realising them.