M A I N   N E W S

India, China discuss steps to maintain peace
Ashok Tuteja/TNS

New Delhi, August 20
On a day when an Indian warplane made a historic landing at Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO) in Ladakh which was the scene of a face-off between the armies of India and China in April-May, top officials of the two countries considered steps for maintaining peace along the Line of Actual Control. (LAC) and expanding bilateral trade and investment to address the yawning bilateral trade deficit faced by India.

At the 5th Indian-China strategic dialogue held here, the two sides also considered the dates for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Beijing. Indications are that the proposed Border Defence Cooperation Agreement (BDCA) between the two countries could be signed during the PM’s visit, expected to take place in October.

The Indian side at the meeting was led by Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh while the Chinese team was headed by Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin. This was the first interaction Singh had with the Chinese after assuming charge as India’s top diplomat on August 1.

“We had a very fruitful dialogue…both sides are determined to maintain peace and stability along the border,” the Chinese Minister said after the talks. According to an official statement, the discussions covered bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest.

“Taking stock of the developments in bilateral ties since the successful visit to India of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, the two sides discussed several issues, including enhancing understanding on the utilisation of trans-border river waters, expanding bilateral trade and investment while addressing problems of the large and growing deficit faced by India, ways of maintaining peace and tranquility along the LAC in the India-China border areas, methods of boosting cultural cooperation as well as people-to-people exchanges and expansion of scientific and technological cooperation,” the statement added.

The potential and prospect for the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) economic cooperation were also touched upon. Future cooperation in the BRICS framework, ways of ensuring an open, inclusive and transparent architecture in the Asia-Pacific region and the outlook for Afghanistan in 2014 and beyond were among other areas of discussion between the two sides.

PM’s China visit

• At the 5th Indian-China strategic dialogue, the two sides discussed the dates for PM's visit to Beijing
• Indications are that the proposed Border Defence Cooperation Agreement between the two countries could be signed during the PM's visit, expected to take place in October
• The Indian side at the meeting was led by Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh while the Chinese team was headed by Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin.