19 Sep 2008, 1908 hrs IST
BEIJING:
The Chinese leadership is believed to have protested against what it regards as a political hysteria in India concerning alleged incursions by troops of the People's Liberation Army into Indian territory.
This is one of the issues raised during the two-day discussions on the border issue between Chinese leaders and National Security Adviser MK Narayanan, sources said. Narayanan held day-long meetings with Chinese leaders including the State Councillor Dai Bingguo before attending a dinner hosted by the Chinese government.
"The border has not been delimited. How can anyone claim that there have been incursions when the border issue has not been settled" Hu Shisheng, a researcher at the government think-talk, the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, said. "The political hype on issues like the border is having a negative impact on the border talks," he said.
The Indian side pointed out that Sikkim is not part of the border negotiations as its boundary is already settled. There can be no case for incursions along the Sikkim border, sources said. The two countries held the 12th round of talks after a gap of one year.
There was no comment from the Indian government on Thursday and Friday despite repeated requests. The Chinese negotiators, however, had given details about their side of the talks to the official Xinhua news agency on Thursday.
Sources said Chinese leaders also advised the Indian government to do what it can to calm anti-Chinese sentiments that could be an obstacle to settling the border issue, informed sources said. The Indian side reiterated that India was a multi-party democracy and Beijing will need to accept this fact in any dealings with New Delhi.
Hu said that the mass media in India has been almost hysterical over issues like the discussions at the meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers Group. China's concerns on the issue of nuclear non-proliferation have not been fully appreciated in India, he said.
"We have our own concerns and we also have to face pressures from other countries in the region. Our representatives acted in a responsible manner at the NSG before agreeing to go along with everyone in approving India's case," he said.
Sources said that Chinese leaders tried to find out if the Indian government can extend some help in solving its problems concerning the Dalai Lama and the alleged violent activities by Tibetan dissidents in China.
"The time has come for Chinese and Indian leaders to sit down together and try to solve the Tibetan issue," Ma Jaili, another Chinese expert at a government run think-tank said.
"The NSG verdict represents the end of the old order and the emergence of a new order. The Chinese leadership has always adhered to the principal of watching the situation carefully before taking a stand on a changing situation like this one," a Chinese expert on Asian affairs, told this reporter.