Pranab Dhal Samanta
The Indian Express
March 29 2013
Seeking to set the agenda in his first meeting with new Chinese President Xi Jinping, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has proposed setting up a joint mechanism on trans-border rivers to assess the construction of dams on the Brahmaputra river in Tibet. The 45-minute meeting late on Wednesday evening on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Durban saw Singh take the lead in the conversation, touching upon all issues of bilateral concern as he called for “practical and pragmatic” solutions to outstanding issues.
The PM, however, conceded that since it was their first meeting, he did not go deep into every issue as he was “keen to get acquainted” first.
Xi, sources said, described Singh as a “revered statesman” who had contributed immensely to the bilateral relationship in the past decade. He told him that China had a lot of respect for him.
“I requested the Chinese government to provide a joint mechanism to enable us to assess the type of construction activity that is going on in the Tibet Autonomous Region,” Singh told reporters on his way back to Delhi. “The President of China assured that they were quite conscious of their responsibilities and interests of lower riparian countries. As regards the specific mechanism I had suggested, he said he would have it further looked into.”
However, Singh also made it clear that the Indian analysis did not show any immediate cause for concern as the construction has not affected the flow of water to India. “As of now, our assessment is that whatever activities are taking place on the Brahmaputra are essentially run-of-the-river projects and therefore there is no cause for worry on our part,” he said.
Both countries have a mechanism at a technical level to share data on the flow of water for both the Brahmaputra and the Sutlej but India has been interested in a more elaborate mechanism, which would help build greater confidence.
But Beijing has been reticent, saying run-of- the-river projects do not require such consultations and information sharing.
Singh also said the two leaders had agreed to maintain constant bilateral interaction at the highest level with he extending an invitation to Xi on behalf of President Pranab Mukherjee. He also told him that India had been awaiting a visit from him for about a year, referring to the invitation to him when he was Vice-President. That trip could not materialise despite an initial positive response.
Singh himself is slated to visit China this year with new Premier Li Keqiang inviting him when the two spoke over the phone a couple of weeks ago.
“We have agreed that high-level visits will be exchanged this year. I look forward to the opportunity of an early meeting with the new premier of China as well,” Singh said.
Overall, Singh said he was coming back with a “distinct impression” that the new leadership in China was “as serious as the former Chinese leadership” to promote healthy neighbourly relations. He added that both sides had agreed to “maintain a similar relationship” under the new regime.
While the meeting was held on Wednesday night, Singh said they had an opportunity to interact earlier in the day too. Sources later said the two held discussions at the BRICS luncheon, spending considerable time on the unending economic crisis in Europe.
This was when Xi first told Singh that he was keen on continuing the personal equation Singh had developed with his predecessor as well as previous Premier Wen Jiabao.
So, Singh’s first words to Xi at the bilateral meeting later were: “The relationship with China is of great importance to us. As Prime Minister of India, it has been my great privilege to interact regularly with the Chinese leadership over the last decade. I hope to intensify this dialogue and communication with you and the new leadership to put our relationship on an even higher growth trajectory.”
