Sino-Indian border becoming ‘more amicable’: China

Jin Guangyong, a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldier at a sentry post along China’s southwestern border with India, says Indian soldiers often shout ‘Hello’ to greet Chinese soldiers.

Isolated by snow for eight months a year, the two sentry posts, separated by a canyon, are the only signs of human habitation, clinging to the black and bare mountain.

“I can feel their loneliness, since we suffer it ourselves. We respond to their greetings,” Jin says.

But Major Ai Huaichun remembers skirmishes when troops from the two sides confronted each other on patrol just a decade ago.

“In the 1990s, meetings usually ended in squabbles that solved nothing. The two parties could argue for hours about whether a soldier had trespassed or not,” says Ai, who used to serve as interpreter at joint meetings for 11 years.

China and India fought over the border in 1962 and hostility afflicted bilateral relations for decades until the end of the 20th century, the report noted.

The year 2000 marked the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and India, which helped warm relations between the troops.

In June 2006, the Nathu La Pass, a century-old trading post that sits 4,545 meters above sea level between Tibet and Sikkim, was reopened after being closed 40 years ago.

“Border meetings have become more friendly. The two sides tend to reflect on progress in Sino-Indian relations and constructively plan for further exchanges,” Ai said.

“Now, if problems like trespassing come to the meeting table, both sides politely agree to further investigate and then settle it through negotiations.”

The regular meetings have resulted in the successful repatriation of soldiers who became lost and strayed over the border in 2003 and 2006.

“The meetings have enabled both sides to exchange information promptly and resolve problems conveniently, which has better maintained peace and stability,” Colonel Zhang Weiguo, head of the Chinese delegation at a meeting with Indian border troops in May this year, was quoted as saying.

The unresolved Sino-Indian boundary has issue has hampered the normal development of bilateral ties, analysts say.

Unable to find a negotiated settlement through the diplomatic channels, India and China appointed Special Representatives in June 2003 to address the border issue from a political perspective of the overall bilateral relations.

The Special Representatives of the two nations have held 11 rounds of negotiations so far. The latest round was held in Beijing from September 24-26.

India says China is illegally occupying 43,180 sq kms of Jammu and Kashmir including 5,180 sq km illegally ceded to Beijing by Islamabad under the Sino-Pakistan boundary agreement in 1963. China accuses India of possessing some 90,000 sq km of Chinese territory, mostly in Arunachal Pradesh.

According to China’s white paper on National Defence in 2006, China has signed land border treaties or agreements with 12 of its 14 neighbours, with most of the demarcation disputes settled. It is currently negotiating with India and Bhutan to resolve boundary issues.

“China now shares the most peaceful borders with its neighbours since the republic was established in 1949,” Deputy Secretary-General of the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association, Teng Jianqun said.

China saw three major military conflicts along its borders from the 1950s to the 1970s. “Since the 1980s, no major border clashes have occurred and border troops have gradually expanded exchanges with each other,” Teng said.

He considers changes in the international environment, particularly the demise of the Cold War mentality, as a key factor in better border relations.

“There did exist territory disputes along the borders, but the prevailing ideological bias during the Cold War period served as a catalyst and worsened conflict,” Teng says.

“The whole international climate has changed since the end of the Cold War, as a country is no longer judged as a friend or an enemy according to its political pattern, which has helped China to rebuild relations with its neighbours,” he says.