145;Settling border issue won146;t be that smooth146;

8216;8216;As we settle the border question, the deeper we go, the more problems we will encounter,8217;8217; he said, in answer to a question on when China would be ready to exchange maps with India on the western and eastern sectors on the Line of Actual Control.

At the third round next week, he added, China8217;s Special Representative Dai Bingguo and his counterpart National Security Advisor J.N. Dixit would have 8216;8216;an in-depth exchange of views on the guiding principles8217;8217; that were formulated during the first two rounds of talks. The Chinese government is ready to 8216;8216;facilitate peaceful negotiations to reach a fair and reasonable solution that is acceptable to both countries on the basis of mutual respect and equality,8217;8217; Shen said.

Shorn of the jargon, analysts said that at this third round, the principles of 8216;8216;give-and-take8217;8217; would likely be debated and a possible framework for a compromise solution on the border issue put into place. The analysts pointed out that if both sides indeed succeeded in arriving at such a framework, last year8217;s 8216;8216;Indian concession8217;8217; to the Chinese of accepting that the 8216;8216;Tibetan Autonomous Region was an integral part8217;8217; of the People8217;s Republic of China, made during Vajpayee8217;s visit to Beijing, would not have gone in waste.

But Shen also indicated a quickening Chinese interest in cooperation with SAARC, which he said could be enhanced with greater cooperation with India, but pointedly refused to commit support for India8217;s candidature in an expanded Security Council. 8216;8216;We understand India8217;s wishes to play a bigger and important role in the UN and we admit that we have never publicly supported any such effort by any country,8217;8217; Shen said, adding that the expansion issue was a 8216;8216;very complicated one8217;8217;, and required discussions between the P-5 and the UN General Assembly. Nevertheless, China was ready to 8216;8216;maintain close contact8217;8217; with India at the UN.

On talks between the Dalai Lama8217;s envoys and Beijing, Shen said it seemed as if the Dalai Lama had abandoned the idea of Tibetan independence during his international travels, but actually that was not the case. He, then, went on to repeat the standard Chinese formula on the Dalai Lama. That the preconditions for talks with Beijing was that the Tibetan leader recognise both Tibet and Taiwan as an 8216;8216;inalienable part8217;8217; of China and stop 8216;8216;splittist8217;8217; activities. 8216;8216;We hope the Dalai Lama will not abandon his motherland,8217;8217; he said.

The Chinese minister was far gentler with the Karmapa, who escaped from Tibet8217;s Tsurphu monastery in January 2004 and has been living in Dharamsala ever since. 8216;8216;We, of course, want to see him return to China. He has also indicated that he would never betray his motherland,8217;8217; he said. 8216;8216;What we are concerned about is that he will not be manipulated by others,8217;8217; he added, 8216;8216;but we adopt a very open and flexible attitude towards him.8217;8217;

Shen8217;s comments on border talks seem interesting, as this is the first time that Dai Bingguo, a vice-minister in the Chinese Foreign Office but with close links to the Communist Party of China, will be coming face-to-face with a representative of the Congress party. The last time around Dixit met the Chinese in official capacity was as Foreign Secretary in 1993, when P.V. Narasimha Rao visited Beijing. Shen pointed out that 8216;8216;though there is now a new government in India,8217;8217; it had indicated to Beijing that it was ready to 8216;8216;further promote8217;8217; the talks process. Under the circumstances, the Chinese side was ready to with 8216;8216;the political will to continue to push forward negotiations on the border question and facilitate its settlement8217;8217;.