INDIA & CHINA TO START BORDER DIALOGUE

Pushing ahead with the fresh momentum in the bilateral relationship after the close cooperation on climate change, India and China will start off the year with a defence dialogue which will for the first time see the Indian defence secretary visit China.

It’s learnt that defence secretary Pradeep Kumar will be in China on January 6 for the defence dialogue and will be accompanied by senior military officials including a representative from the Eastern Command and directorate of military operations. The dialogue will look to expand the scope of issues to be covered under this dialogue which have still not been fully defined.

Though both countries had agreed to start a dialogue at the level of defence secretaries about three years ago, the launch of the dialogue was marred by mutual doubts which got reflected in protocol decisions. In the first dialogue, India felt that the official nominated from the Chinese side was not equivalent to the rank of secretary in India and so, the talks were held at joint secretary level where much ice could not be broken.

Thereafter, when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited China in January 2008, it was again stressed at the political level that the dialogue must happen at the secretary level so as to enable greater confidence building between militaries on both sides. With increasing suspicion over Chinese intentions behind upgrading infrastructure on border areas close to India, it was felt that regular exchange at high levels will help bridge the trust deficit.

For months after the PM’s visit, the Indian side again complained of frustration because its repeated attempts to get dates for setting up the next dialogue failed to draw a response. Finally, in December 2008, PLA’s deputy chief of general staff Lt Gen Ma Xiaotian visited India and met the then defence secretary Vijay Singh.

Those talks, sources said, were exploratory in nature with both sides not touching upon the boundary question or the controversial fresh claims like that made by China on Finger Area in Sikkim. In fact, there was hardly any conversation even on new confidence building measures. The focus, rather, was on maritime cooperation in and around the Gulf of Aden to combat piracy with the Chinese side using the opportunity to repeat their concerns over Tibetan “political activities” in India.

Last year, amid increasing tension over reports of incursions, the two sides sought to turn a new...