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External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said yesterday he would visit China on May 9 amid high tensions between the neighbours due to a flare-up at their disputed border.
“I believe we have a mutual interest and we should not destroy years of contribution we have put together,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a business event. “I think it is a good thing that we are having a dialogue.”
It was unclear if the trip was part of scheduled preparations for a visit by the newly-installed Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to India next month, but it comes at a time of rising friction between the neighbours.
Li is due in New Delhi on May 20 for his first overseas trip, which was agreed last month by the leaders of both countries at a summit in South Africa, The Times of India newspaper reported yesterday.
New Delhi says a platoon of Chinese troops moved into Indian territory on April 15 in a remote and desolate part of the Himalayas where the border is disputed.
India has publicly called on the Chinese soldiers to withdraw from Depsang area in Ladakh, but several meetings between local army commanders and diplomats from both sides have failed to resolve the stand-off.
On Wednesday, Defence Minister A K Antony said that talks were going on with China at various levels to resolve the stand-off.
“Our government will take every step to protect the national interest and the country’s security. Negotiations are going on at various levels to resolve the issue,” Antony said.
The Chinese incursion featured prominently during a meeting between Antony and Army chief Gen Bikram Singh, sources said.
Various options were discussed during the meeting, the sources said.
The meeting comes a day after Gen Singh returned from a visit to the Northern Command headquarters at Nagrota, near Jammu, where he met army commander, Lt Gen K T Parnaik, and other senior officers.
Earlier, delivering a speech at Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, (FICCI), Khurshid said “disagreement” on any issue was not “betrayal.”
“People ask me what is wrong with India that all its neighbours are not its friends. And I tell them, you have an idea of friendship which is different from mine. My idea of friendship is when you are frank, free with each other, you have expectations and you deliver.
“You agree and you disagree, but you have constant faith that a disagreement is not betrayal. A disagreement is like two intelligent people working out life plans and not necessarily kicking the heels, saying one is right and one is wrong,” he said.
Khurshid also said such situations arise as there is a difference in perception between the two countries as there is no demarcation of their border.