New Delhi hopes for change in stand on Indias Security Council bid Ties with India fragile: Beijing
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/120285/ties-india-fragile-beijing.html
Chinese Ambassador Zhang Yan cautioned India on Monday that the fragile relation between the two countries was easy to be damaged and difficult to repair. He also said the ties needed special care in the information age.
Even as New Delhi hopes that Chinese Premier Wen Jiabaos visit to India this week will iron out differences in the complex bilateral relation, Zhang warned that the Sino-Indian ties are very fragile.
Zhang, while subtly prodding New Delhi to tone down anti-China rhetoric in media and public discourse in India, said the government should provide guidance to the public to avoid a war of words.
Zhang was speaking at a conference organised by the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries. His remarks have come just two days before Wens arrival for his second visit to India. New Delhi hopes that Beijing will not only address some of its concernslike the Chinese policy of issuing stapled visas to Jammu and Kashmir citizens and limited access for India Inc in the neighbouring countrys marketduring Wens visit, but would also spell out a more nuanced position on Indias bid for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
Wen is visiting New Delhi at the end of a year that has seen UK Prime Minister David Cameroon, US President Barack Obama and French President Nicholas Sarkozy all coming to India and openly supporting its bid for a permanent seat in the UNSC. India also won elections for a non-permanent seat in the UNSC for 2011-13 last October.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, too, is expected to articulate Moscows support for Indias UNSC aspirations while visiting New Delhi later this month. China has so far been maintaining that it understands Indias desire to play a greater role in the United Nations, but stopped short of supporting New Delhis bid for a permanent Security Council seat. New Delhi, however, hopes that China will subtly change its position and it may be reflected in the joint communiqué to be issued after Wens meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday.
Chinalike the US, UK, France and Russiais a permanent member of the UNSC and its support is of vital importance for India. Zhang, however, remained non-committal on the issue of Beijing reviewing its policy of giving stapled visa to Indian citizens of Jammu and Kashmir for travelling to China.
Replying to journalists queries on the sidelines of the conference, the Chinese envoy just said the issue of stapled visa was being discussed by Beijing and New Delhi. It is being discussed, we are aware of the issue, he added.
Chinese policy of issuing visas stapled on passport to J&K citizens has emerged as a major irritant in Sino-Indian relation over the past one year with New Delhi seeing it as Beijings way of negating its claim on troubled state as an integral part of India.
Gautam Bambawale, Joint Secretary (East Asia) in the Ministry of External Affairs, said India would take up the issue of stapled visa with China during Wens visit as it had been doing over the past several months. We hope that the Chinese side will address our concern, he said. Significantly, the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi recently issued regular visasstamped on passport pagesto at least three people from J&K.
What New Delhi apparently feels unhappy about is Wens decision to travel to Pakistan after his visit to India, going against the trend Obama and other world leaders set of late by not putting the two South Asian neighbours together in their itinerary. India may also take up the issue of Chinese companies role in infrastructure projects in ***************** Kashmir and express its concern over Sino-Pak nuclear cooperation during Wens visit.
