Atul Aneja
The Hindu
May 21, 2015
Indian soldiers patrol the Line of Actual Control (LAC), in Bumla in Arunachal Pradesh. About 38,000 sq. km of Indian territory is under Chinese occupation in Jammu and Kashmir.
India and China have established a detailed framework of partnership during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit, but the delay in clarification of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and Beijing’s proposed forays into Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) are hampering the full development of ties.
Diplomatic sources said the Prime Minister had been forthright in conveying to his hosts that the process to clarify the LAC, stalled since 2005, should be resumed.
The sources pointed out that the LAC clarification should be seen as part of an evolving architecture of confidence-building measures, which have been put in place to ensure peace along the border.
“We need to have the clarification of the LAC as the basis of the management of the border,” the sources said.
During his address at Tsinghua University, arguably his most important speech during his China visit, Mr. Modi stressed that LAC clarification could be done “without prejudice to our position on the boundary question”.
That allays apprehensions among a section of the Chinese establishment that India would insist on turning the LAC into a permanent border once it was clarified.
Minimalist expectations
The sources pointed out that in the context of the LAC clarification, the minimalist approach would be to have a shared perception of each other’s positions, which alone would contribute immensely in easing tensions.
During talks, India has stated with clarity its objections to the making part of the proposed Pakistan-China economic corridor pass through the PoK.
Economic corridor
Last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping inaugurated the Gwadar-Kashgar economic corridor as part of China’s “belt and road” connectivity initiative for integrating the economies of Eurasia.
India’s core concerns that are restraining ties, which include LAC clarification and the use of PoK territory in defining the Pakistan-China economic corridor, were covered in remarks by the Prime Minster at the Great Hall of the People.
India wants China’s backing for Security Council, NSG entry
During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit here, India made it transparent that China’s explicit support for New Delhi as a full member of the United Nations Security Council and the Nuclear Suppliers Group, a 48-country grouping that promotes nuclear commerce while ensuring non-proliferation, will raise ties to “a new level”.
Analysts say that any accommodative shift in China’s position on the NSG is likely to recalibrate Beijing’s ties with Pakistan. Pakistan has been vocal in opposing India’s entry, after U.S. President Barack Obama backed New Delhi’s membership in January.
The New York Times had earlier reported that Sartaj Aziz, Pakistan’s National Security Adviser, had issued a statement following Mr. Obama’s India visit that “Pakistan is opposed to yet another country-specific exemption from NSG rules to grant membership to India, as this would further compound the already fragile strategic stability environment in South Asia”.
Nuclear commerce
Yet, nuclear commerce is slowly entering the China-India equation. Ahead of Mr. Modi’s visit, Liu Jinsong, Deputy Director-General in the Chinese Foreign Ministry, listed nuclear power stations as one of China’s strengths which India could leverage.
The “harmonisation” of India’s “Mausam” and “Spice Route” connectivity projects with China’s “belt and road” initiative was not discussed in the talks, the sources said. Contrary to assumptions in a section of the Chinese media that India wanted to monopolise the Indian Ocean, Mr. Modi said during his Tsinghua speech that “cooperation is essential” as “India and China conduct their international commerce on the same sea lanes.”
