New Delhi, December 3
Chinese firms which have a presence in India and are also simultaneously undertaking projects in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) may face action, official sources indicated today.

“We are certainly looking at certain Chinese companies which have projects in PoK and are also working in India. We are deciding what to do (with these firms),” the sources said.

New Delhi has consistently objected to the Chinese presence in PoK in defiance of Beijing’s stated position of maintaining neutrality on the Jammu and Kashmir issue.

Of late, China has shown a definite change in its stance on Jammu and Kashmir by issuing visas on stapled sheets to Indian residents of the sensitive border state, thereby questioning its status.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is likely to take up this issue and other Indian concerns when he holds talks with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, who is arriving in India on an official visit in mid-December.

Ahead of the Chinese leader’s visit, New Delhi hoped Beijing would realise the need to show more sensitivity on core issues that impinge on India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said the two countries were also putting in place more confidence-building measures to tackle the vexed boundary issue, for which India was making a serious attempt to try to arrive at a “fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution”.

Addressing a seminar today on China-India relations organised by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), Rao talked about a host of issues which were a matter of concern to New Delhi and included Chinese presence in PoK, issuance of stapled visas to residents of Jammu and Kashmir and construction of dams on cross-border rivers.

“We believe that India-China relationship will grow even stronger as China shows more sensitivity on core issues that impinge on our sovereignty and territorial integrity. We hope this can be realised,” she said.

Referring to the just concluded 14th round of talks between the Special Representatives on the boundary issue in Beijing, Rao said: “The absence of the solution to the question is not due to the lack of effort but arises from the difficulty of the question.”

She maintained that the India-China boundary was the most peaceful of all boundaries and both the countries had a “well organised” set of measures to ensure peace and tranquillity on the boundary.

“We are currently talking to each other on establishing more such mechanisms,” she said, adding that leaders on both sides had shown maturity to understand the complexity of the issue and to insulate it from affecting the broader relationship.

The top Indian diplomat said India had not hesitated in stressing its “genuine concerns” regarding some aspects of the China-Pakistan relationship, particularly on China’s role in PoK, its J&K policy and security and nuclear ties with Islamabad.