India-China talks today: Brahmaputra dam,PoK projects on the table

India is expected to bring up the issue of building of a dam on the Brahmaputra when S M Krishna meets Chinese Foreign minister in Bangalore.

India is expected to bring up the issue of Chinese investments in power projects in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir and that of building of a dam on the Brahmaputra when External Affairs Minister S M Krishna meets Chinese Foreign minister Yang Jiechi in Bangalore on the sidelines of the India-Russia-China trilateral meet on Tuesday.

On Monday,Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called up Krishna,who is already in Bangalore,and gave him a brief on the issues which need to be discussed with the Chinese Foreign Minister,said sources. Singh is learnt to have relayed the gist of the discussions he had with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on the sidelines of ASEAN and East Asia summits in Hua Hin,Thailand recently.

Singh,talking about his discussions,said on Sunday that he had explained Indias position on the Dalai Lama and Tibetans to the Chinese Premier. He said that both he and Wen agreed that outstanding issues should be discussed when the foreign ministers meet.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi arrived in a special aircraft on Monday evening,with an entourage of the about 100 officials,including diplomats and interpreters.

In Bangalore,External Affairs Ministry officials said the bilateral meeting would cover the entire gamut of relationship between the two countries. When the foreign ministers meet they discuss the entire gamut of the relationship. Nothing is off the table. The foreign ministers will review the relationship and cover aspects important to both countries but we cannot pre-judge what they will discuss, MEA spokesperson and Joint Secretary Vishnu Prakash said.

Among the issues that did not figure in the talks in Thailand were that of separate visas being issued by China to people from Kashmir and Chinese projects in PoK. These are valid issues but only after the consultations on Tuesday will it be clear if they are discussed, said MEA Joint Secretary East Asia and head of the China desk Vijay Gokhale,who was part of the delegation-level talks between both sides in Thailand.

Following the meeting between the two foreign ministers,they will also have an opportunity to interact with each other at a dinner on Tuesday night to be hosted by Karnataka Governor H R Bhardwaj.

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At the trilateral meeting in the morning,the Indian and Chinese foreign ministers,along with Russian Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov,are expected to discuss issues of common interest. Officials said the three ministers would hold discussions at three levels to strengthen trilateral co-operation mainly in business,exchange views on international issues and to address regional issues.

India has emphasized the economic and business opportunities in the trilateral format and meetings in the past have focused on sectors like infrastructure,energy,chemicals and pharmaceuticals,nano technology,banking and finance,officials said. The trilateral forum is also very useful to us for political exchanges of the three countries on international and regional issues, MEA spokesperson Vishnu Prakash said.

This is the ninth trilateral meeting and the fifth standalone meeting of foreign ministers of the three countries.