India and China are trying to find a solution to the issue of China’s policy of issuing stapled visas to people from Arunachal Pradesh, a senior official of the Ministry of External Affairs said here on Thursday.
Taking part in an interaction on ‘PM’s visit to China’ at Observer Research Foundation, the Joint Secretary (East Asia), Gautam Bambawale, who had accompanied the Prime Minister’s team during the recent visit to China said the issue was taken by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang during their talks.
He said the Prime Ministers have tasked their officials to work out a solution. “We are already on it. Let us see,” he added.
Bambawale said there is a need to find a practical solution to the problem soon as many sportsmen from Arunachal Pradesh were not able to participate in sports events in China, which increasingly organises such events.
He said to find a solution both the countries need to sort out the basic issue – that China claims Arunachal to be a part of it and India as an integral part of its country.
Bambawale said Manmohan Singh during his tenure of nearly ten years had worked hard with the Chinese leadership to keep the relationship ‘stable and predictable’.
He said India-China relationship is complex but at the same time, stable and predictable. “Things are in stable, things are in equilibrium and things are predictable,” he said.
Bambawale said the new government after the elections would be able to take the relationship forward. “The new government will find that the India-China relationship is now in a place from which they can pick up the baton and run forward,” he said.
He noted that Manmohan Singh met not only his counterpart and the Chinese President Xi Jinping, but also the Number Three in the politburo who is also the chairman of the people’s congress, Zhang Dejiang. He also spent quality time with the former Prime Minister, he said.
“It was a very good signal. The Chinese leadership wants to work with India, expand areas of cooperation and manage differences,” he said.
Bambawale said the new Border Defence Cooperation Agreement signed between India and China is very good signal as agreement was done at the initiative of the PLA which is trying to reach out to India.
He denied the reports that the agreement would put restrictions on the number of troops at the border or even the building of infrastructure. “No such restrictions are mentioned in the agreement,” he noted.
Describing the agreement signed on transnational rivers as a glimmer of hope, Bambawale said it would help build confidence among the Chinese. “It slightly opens the door,” he remarked.
Responding to questions, Bambawale said Afghanistan did figure in the PM’s talks with his counterpart as well as the President.
“Everyone who is a neighbour of Afghanistan is worried about what is going to happen as we move towards 2014 and the withdrawal of the US forces from there,” he said.
“We have established very detailed discussion with China on how we can work together as we approach 2014. We will continue discussing with China,” he added.
He said regional issues, including Korean peninsula, were also discussed during the visit and other interactions at various levels. However, neither Tibet, nor Nepal or Bhutan was discussed. Chinese Premier just hoped in his prepared speech that India sticks to its position on Tibet, he said.
According to him, there was also no discussion on South China Sea situation. Regarding oil blocks offered by Vietnam, he said India looks at these purely from the economic and commercial angles with no political overtones or political implications.
Source: http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ani/india-china-working-on-stapled-visa-issue-to-people-from-arunachal-pradesh-113112101188_1.html