New Delhi, March 1
Taking a giant step towards normalisation of relations, India and China today decided to begin a dialogue on maritime issues while resolving to maintain peace and tranquillity along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

The suggestion for the first-ever maritime dialogue between the two countries was made by Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi during talks with External Affairs Minister S M Krishna here.

“Both India and China are nations with long coastlines. The two sides feel it would be useful to hold a maritime dialogue. The mechanism for the dialogue would be worked out soon,’’ Gautam Bambawale, Joint Secretary (East Asia), in the External Affairs Ministry told reporters.

The proposed dialogue is being considered a major confidence building measure (CBM) between the two countries given the fact that it comes in the wake of the Chinese navy increasingly trying to assert itself in the Strait of Malacca and the Indian Ocean region. New Delhi has sought to counter the Chinese dominance by strengthening maritime ties with countries in the South China Sea like Vietnam and Japan.

The decision to include maritime issues in bilateral talks is expected to help reduce tension between the two countries ahead of Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to India for the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) Summit towards the month-end.

During their meeting, Krishna and Yang are understood to have discussed the entire gamut of bilateral ties as well as international issues of mutual concern. “China stands ready to work together with India to uphold good-neighbourliness, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, broaden exchanges and promote more comprehensive growth of China-India relations,’’ the Chinese leader said.

Krishna said New Delhi was consistently committed to developing the strategic and cooperative partnership between the two countries. On the complex border issue, it was decided that the working mechanism on the border management established at the 15th round of boundary talks between the Special Representatives of the two countries held in January would met next week in Beijing. The main objective of the working mechanism was to ensure that peace and tranquillity was maintained along the border between the two countries.

The meeting between the two foreign ministers came days after verbal sparring between New Delhi and Beijing over Defence Minister A K Antony’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh. China, which lays claim over Arunachal Pradesh, had objected to the visit while New Delhi reasserted that the entire Northeastern state belongs to it.

Meanwhile, a group of Tibetans demonstrated outside the Hyderabad House where the meeting between the two foreign ministers was being held to protest against Yang’s visit. According to MEA spokesman Syed Akbaruddin, the two countries would soon announce an elaborate programme to celebrate 2012 as the year of ‘India-China Friendship and Cooperation’.