'One Step At A Time'

I have had a very productive and comprehensive round of meetings andtalks today. I have had meetings with Qian Qichen, Vice Premier and DaiBingguo, Minister of the International Liaison Department of the CCP. I havealso had useful meetings with my distinguished colleague and counterpart,Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan. I do believe that the talks have resulted in somesubstantial discussions and the dynamism imparted to India-China relations, tomy mind, is significant. I will give you serially the various meetingswhich shall take place between now and the end of the year. What this calendarof meetings depicts is the establishment of a very comprehensive dialogueprocess between the two countries and at various levels.

i) Firstly, the next meeting of the annual Bilateral Dialogue orMechanism on Counter- terrorism shall be held in New Delhi on 23rd April 2002.

ii) The next meeting of the Eminent Persons Group shall be held inBeijing in May, 2002.

iii) The 12th meeting of the Expert Group shall be held in June, 2002.Bothsides, in this context, have expressed satisfaction at the progress made on theclarification and confirmation of the Line of Actual Control (LAC). We haveagreed to exchange sample maps of the LAC in the Western Sector at theEG-12 meeting. Both sides will also do their best endeavour to complete theexchange of sample maps of LAC in the Western Sector by the end of 2002and begin the exchange of sample maps of LAC in the Eastern Sector early nextyear. So, on the LAC we now have a timetable for the two sectors
(Western and Eastern Sectors).

iv) The 3rd bilateral Security Dialogue shall be held in July-August2002 in Beijing.

v) The 14th meeting of the Joint Working Group shall be held inAugust-September 2002 in New Delhi.

vi) There are already exchanges between the two Armed Forces. Bothsides have expressed satisfaction at this and the Chinese side has welcomed theproposal for a visit of our Defence Minister at a mutually convenient date.

vii) The Chinese side has welcomed the forthcoming official visit of PrimeMinister Vajpayee to China within this year, at the invitation of Premier ZhuRongji.

2. The establishment of a comprehensive security dialogue shows that the effortsfor the last four years or so to put India-China relations on a certain fixedand predictable rail and have now borne tangible results and we will now havemeetings taking place almost on a monthly pace. I have not included othermeetings, such as the Foreign Office consultations, which shall continue inaddition to the above. I am due to call on Premier Zhu Rongji tomorrow. I am now open to any questions that you may wish to raise.

I just spoke to Tel Aviv to bring myself up-to-date on the latest developments.I do believe the developments there are extremely disturbing and I haveexpressed my concern and advised that even now the Saudi peace plan must begiven a chance and the vicious circle of violence begetting more violence mustend.

Question And Answer Session:

Q: What is the procedure being followed for exchange of maps?

A: The procedure we are following is that we have taken the MiddleSector first, exchanged the maps at a certain agreed scale so that the Line ofActual Control and areas of difference are identified. We have completed theprocess in the case of the Middle Sector. We shall now begin with the WesternSector and then move on to the Eastern Sector.

Q: Have the areas of differences been identified?

A: We have identified the areas of differences. There is very littlescope for descriptive or definitional confusion. This is the confirmation andclarification of the LAC and not the boundary.

Q: There is a problem of different names for common pasturages inareas such as Mana - have these been resolved?

A: Yes, indeed. This is part of the process of LAC clarification,which takes into account difference in names on both sides. For instance, wehave made progress in exchange of vital hydrological data on theBrahmaputra River. I had proposed that we exchange hydrological data onBrahmaputra River, which is called by a different name in China. There is nodifference on what Brahmaputra is. I have not listed all the agreements that we
have reached.

Q: What progress has been made in talks on counter-terrorism with China?

A: We have gone beyond the definition of terrorism. The fact thatChina and India are now sitting together to talk about counter-terrorismand that the Chinese side is willing to talk on terrorism and about UNSCR1373 and other efforts to counter-terrorism is significant. I am quite confidentabout the progress.

Q: What about the border question?

A: We should take this one step at a time as I inherited a problemwhich is half-a-century old. I would much rather move first on the LAC, definethe existing differences, thereafter strengthen CBMs and then move on to theborder question. We are moving in accordance to a carefully thought outstep-by-step manner in resolving this complex issue, which is
apparently intractable. I do not believe this issue cannot be resolved.

Q: What will be the level for the discussions on counter-terrorism?

A: The first meeting of counter-terrorism talks in April 2002 shall beled by Joint Secretary (East Asia) of Ministry of External Affairs and DirectorGeneral on the Chinese side. JS(EA) is free to have in his team whoever he feelsis necessary to facilitate talks. He can have agencies, MHA, etc.

Q: Have you talked of border trade ?

A: We have spoken on these issues and shall be addressing these at theappropriate level. This will be at the Joint Secretary/Director General level.There are a number of issues I have not spoken on. I would not like toqualify anything until I am ready to qualify. I would much rather move withcaution born of historical experience.

Q: Does the process of CBMs include thinning of forces on the border anddisarmament? Are these serial steps?

A: These are not serial steps. I am working on some CBMs but I do notlike to announce these before achieving anything. We need to have more CBMs thatare not necessarily related to the LAC. On this issue, it is not as if there isany disagreement between both sides. Non-LAC related CBMs were also discussedand we would be moving for further definition in this regard.

Q: Could you comment on whether non-LAC CBMs include border trade?

A: I have discussed trade at considerable length with Vice PremierQian Qichen. We agreed that bilateral trade at US$ 3.6 billion last year isgrossly unsatisfactory and the commencement of direct flights betweenBeijing-Delhi and Delhi-Beijing is the first of many steps required. China hastaken a decision to include India in the list of countries that
are designated as Approved Destination Status for tourism. This has long beenawaited. India now shall be designated as an Approved Destination Status fortourism from China and this was announced today. The main emphasis of my meetingwith Premier Zhu Rongji tomorrow will be on trade. Trade was also an importantissue which was discussed by me both with the Foreign Minister and VicePremier Qian Qichen.

Q: What steps are being taken to ease grant of visas?

A: There should be an easing of grant of visas. Difficulty is beingexperienced by Chinese seeking to come to India and possibly, by Indians seekingto come to China. This will be addressed on a reciprocal basis,.

Q: Are you satisfied with the outcome of your letter to ForeignMinister Tang Jiaxuan in April 2000?

A: In my letter, I had suggested to my distinguished counterpart TangJiaxuan that we address the whole issue in such a fashion that we are able tofind resolution of the LAC by end-2001. Yes, we have slipped on time but I ammore than satisfied that what we achieved in substance is what we have not beenable to achieve for the past 50 years. This is the reality.

Q: Has September 11 had a catalytical effect on India-China bilateralrelations?

A: The effect of 9/11 and December 13 on India-China relations has notbeen as catalytic. The fact is that both India and China are working towardsdeepening and strengthening their relations. Both sides are working veryclosely. As I told Vice Premier Qian Qichen and Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan,we have to move away from the shadow of history and to begin to addressourselves to the sunlight of tomorrow, because India and China constitute 40% ofthe world's population and it is our bounden duty to be responsible and findanswers for almost half of humanity.

Q: Was Pakistan discussed during the talks?

A: I came here to discuss India-China relations. I do not look atbilateral relations between India and China through that prism. We have aSecurity Dialogue in which this can be discussed. I am not saying that Pakistandid not come up in the talks at all but I do not attach emphasis or focus orcentrality to the issue.

Q: Did Afghanistan come up during the discussions?

A: Yes, it did. We spoke of deteriorating situation in Afghanistan andthis will come up on 23 April 2002.

Q: Is the process of the LAC clarification and CBMs sequential orlinked?

A: These are not sequential in time. We are endeavouring to establishthe modality and method. The method itself answers the needs of both thecountries so that it becomes a self-propelling method. During the visit ofthen PM Rajiv Gandhi in 1998, we agreed to a formulation for finding an answerto the border problem. We are working towards building on the factor of greatermutual understanding in practical terms, so that it acquires a
momentum and is able to roll the whole boundary question on its own.

Q: Did the question of East Turkistan Movement come up during thetalks?

A: No.

Q: What is your comment on the commencement of flights from India toTaiwan?

A: It is a commercial flight. It goes to Taipei. We recognize oneChina and there is no confusion on that.