‘Everything on table’ for discussion with Li

Workers tie Indian and Chinese national flags onto poles in front of the Central Secretariat in New Delhi yesterday, ahead of a state visit by Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang.Agencies/New DelhiIndia says all issues will be “on the table,” including a recent border spat and a festering trade imbalance, during Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang’s visit to the country which starts today. At the same time New Delhi thinks “very highly” of Li’s decision to make India his first overseas stop since taking charge as premier, external affairs ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said yesterday. After arriving just after midday today, Li will hold talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and later will be a guest at a dinner hosted by the Indian leader at his residence, officials said. Such high-level exchanges are aimed at “enhancing trust,” Akbaruddin added. Ties between the neighbours have been dogged by mutual suspicion that lingers long after a 1962 border war high in the Himalayas. India’s joint foreign secretary for East Asia, Gautam Bambawale, said “everything is on the table” for discussion, including the border dispute and improving the nations’ trade balance, which is tilted heavily in Beijing’s favour. “The two prime ministers will talk about these subjects,” Bambawale said. The border dispute with New Delhi flared last month into a three-week standoff after India alleged that Chinese troops intruded nearly 20km into Indian-claimed territory, highlighting longstanding tensions. The Line of Actual Control between the nuclear-armed neighbours has never been formally demarcated although they have signed accords to maintain peace in the Himalayan area. The world’s two most populous countries have in recent years seen ties improve and trade boom, and both sides sought to stay low-key over the latest row. Beijing said Chinese troops “never trespassed the line.” Separately, sources said yesterday that India would push for efforts to avoid such alleged occurrences in future. Tomorrow, the two leaders, accompanied by high-level delegations, will hold wideranging talks on key international, regional and bilateral issues. Li will be accorded a ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhavan, the presidential palace, and also visit Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial Rajghat.Later, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj will call on him. Li will also meet Vice President Hamid Ansari and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.On Tuesday, he will address an event at the Taj Palace Hotel being hosted by the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry before leaving for Mumbai. On the economic front, Bambawale said India will press for more trade access to China. In 2012, bilateral trade was $66.5bn - down from $74bn in 2011 and a setback to the neighbours achieving their $100bn goal by 2015. India also faces an increasing trade deficit with China that totaled $29bn in 2012, according to Chinese figures. In addition, New Delhi will seek assurances that a Chinese plan to build three more hydropower dams across the mighty crossborder Brahmaputra river - known in China as the Yarlung Tsangpo - will not affect India’s downstream water flow. Ahead of his visit, the Chinese premier has indicated the direction his interactions would take by hearkening back to his visit to this country 27 years ago and saying the fond memories of that trip have had a “lasting effect” on him.Addressing an Indian youth delegation in Beijing ahead of his India visit, Li said he has chosen India as his first foreign stop as prime minister, “not just because India is an important neighbour and one of the populous countries of the world but also because of the seeds of friendship sown during my own youth.”The premier has also signalled China’s intent to see India-China ties at a higher level so that they can “together raise the standing of Asia in the world and truly make Asian economy an important engine for the world economy.”He will travel to Pakistan from India and then on to Switzerland and Germany on his nine-day trip.