India News:

Pinpricking by ChinaIndia needs to take it up seriously

DURING his recent Delhi visit Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao described the India-China border dispute as a “historical legacy”, which, in his opinion, “will take a fairly long period of time” to be resolved. Indeed, the way China has been raising it time and again inspires little hope of resolution. The latest from China is that its official Map World website, an answer to Google Earth, mentions India’s Arunchal Pradesh as a part of Chinese territory. Another objectionable entry in Map World is that it shows Aksai Chin in China’s Xinjiang province, denying India’s sovereignty over it.


The Map World challenge came soon after China issued stapled visas to Indian sportspersons from Arunachal Pradesh wanting to visit China. This was on the lines of the Chinese practice of issuing stapled visas to visitors from Jammu and Kashmir. Earlier China refused to issue a visa to anyone from Arunachal seeking to visit China. Those in India who thought that there was some change in China’s policy have to revise their views, as Beijing has come out with an explanation that there is no change in its perception and it continues to consider Arunachal as South Tibet and a part of China.


These are, no doubt, pinpricks which can lead to a major crisis between the two emerging global powers. There is need to take up these issues seriously through the “working mechanism for consultation and coordination on border affairs”, set up during Mr Wen’s December visit to India. China must respect India’s sensibilities and should avoid any demonstration of the border dispute in the manner it has been doing so far. Both have been gaining substantially in terms of rising bilateral trade for some time. The economic gains may get threatened if the border dispute is not kept aside to be settled in a spirit of give and take. 


(the tribune, chandigarh)
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