Signing of an agreement between China and India on the status of Sikkim is possible and the ball is in India's court, Chen, Chinese ambassador to India from 1991-94, said. His comments came ahead of the 11th round of the Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting on the China-India boundary issue to be held here from tomorrow. In the 70s, China had strongly opposed Sikkim becoming a state of the Indian Union by shedding its protectorate status.

As a first step towards formal recognition of Sikkim being an integral part of India, he said the two countriesshould state in bilateral agreement that they have decided to resume border trade between the Tibet Autonomous Region of China and the Indian state of Sikkim. Chen, currently senior advisor with China Institute of International Studies (CIIS), said China may not be willing to issue a formal statement on the question of Sikkim, as suggested by India, since it involved the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country.

``We have tried to find out if this kind of a statement has been issued by other governments. We found none,'' Chen claimed and stressed a bilateral agreement would be the diplomatic way. Chen said India should not to put too much pressure on China, accusing it of not doing anything on the border issue. He said the Chinese side was willing to adopt a constructive and practical attitude towards resolving the boundary issue with India.