No rivalry with India, says top Chinese official

IANS/New Delhi

Chinese official Dal Bingguo walks with Indian National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon in New Delhi prior to their talks yesterday

Indian and Chinese officials yesterday held talks to formulate a border mechanism and to resolve their decades-old boundary dispute, with Chinese State Councillor Dai Bingguo rejecting rivalry and predicting “a golden period” for India-China relations in the days ahead.Dai and India’s National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon, special representatives for boundary talks, began the two-day negotiations that are aimed at firming up a framework for delineating the border on the map. This is the 15th round of boundary talks between special representatives of the two countries that was set up in 2003 to resolve the festering dispute.Menon and Dai are also expected to work out the details of an accord on the border mechanism that is likely to be signed today. The discussions scheduled for last year were cancelled over a speech in India by Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. Recently, Menon described the boundary question as a “difficult issue” and clarified that the two sides were “in the second stage of the three-stage process of agreeing to principles, a framework and finally a boundary line.” The second and the third stages are proving to be most difficult as it may involve a swap of territories. The border mechanism will facilitate real-time contact between the foreign office of the two countries in case of intrusions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). It is aimed at preventing flare-ups or misunderstandings arising out of incursions in other’s territory that in turns may stem from misperceptions of the un-demarcated LAC. The decision to set up the border mechanism was taken at a meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabai in April 2011.Ahead of the talks, Dai, who is said to be close to Chinese President Hu Jintao, struck an upbeat note on the trajectory of the burgeoning India-China relations and rejected rivalry with New Delhi amid recent differences over a host of issues. “While working hard to develop itself, China is fully committed to developing long-term friendship and co-operation with India. It is our genuine hope that India will enjoy prosperity and its people, happiness,” Dai wrote in an article in The Hindu published yesterday. “There does not exist such a thing as China’s attempt to ‘attack India’ or ‘suppress India’s development’. China will remain committed to the path of peaceful development,” Dai wrote. Underlining the need for closer co-operation between India and China, Dai said: “We speak with one voice and enjoy increasingly closer co-ordination and collaboration in multilateral mechanisms and in tackling global challenges.”The influential Chinese politician and diplomat also rejected rivalry with India.“We need to view each other’s development in a positive light and regard each other as major partners and friends, not rivals. We always need to be each other’s good neighbour, good friend and good partner,” he said.