New Delhi, July 9 (Inditop.com) Putting behind China’s objections to an Asian Development Bank (ADB) loan to India, special representatives of the two countries will meet next month to resume their dialogue on finding a solution to their vexed border issue, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said Thursday.
“India and China seek a fair and mutually acceptable solution to the boundary issue. We have a mechanism of special representatives for working out a framework. The special representatives will be meeting next month,” Krishna said in the Rajya Sabha while replying to a supplementary during question hour.
“We have friendly relations with China. We are engaging in multilateral activities. Trade is growing and we would like this to continue,” he added.
The special representatives, India’s National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan and China’s State Counselor Dai Bingguo, held their 12th round of talks in Beijing in September.
India and China, who fought a bitter war in 1962, had adopted the special representatives route in 2003 to resolve the border issue from a political perspective after diplomatic negotiations failed to yield results.
India accuses China of illegally occupying 43,180 sq km of territory in Jammu and Kashmir, including 5,180 sq km Beijing has illegally ceded to Pakistan in 1963.
On its part, Beijing accuses New Delhi of occupying some 90,000 sq km of Chinese territory, most of it in the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.
In June, China blocked an ADB loan of $2.9 billion to India as $60 million was meant for a watershed management project in Arunachal Pradesh.
Krishna asserted that Arunachal Pradesh was an “integral part of India”. He said while replying to the main question on the blocking of the loan that India had made it clear to the ADB that China’s action was a “clear violation” of the bank’s charter.
In this context, the minister noted that President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee had visited Arunachal Pradesh in the recent past to reinforce India’s claims over the state.
“I, too, intend visiting Arunachal Pradesh shortly,” Krishna said.
The minister, however, dodged a question from noted lawyer Ram Jethmalani on whether the government would adopt the arbitration route as laid down in the constitution to resolve the border dispute with China.
“How vigorously will you contest China’s claim? We have been hearing this for 60 years but nothing has happened. Are you aware that Article 51 (of the constitution) provides a lesson? Clause 4 says India must strive to resolve all disputes through arbitration. Have you ever offered arbitration (to China)?” Jethmalani asked.
All that Krishna said was: “With all vehemence, we have conveyed to the ADB that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India and that this is not negotiable.”
