China draws another hardline on Arunachal

It’s also being seen as a dampener given that India was keen on obtaining a concession on the Chinese claim when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visits China later this year.

Singh, who arrived here today for the G8 summit, will meet Chinese President Hu Jintao tomorrow and look to gauge the response at his level. While it’s unlikely that the PM will raise Yang’s remarks with Hu, Arunachal CM Dorji Khandu had asked Singh to raise the issue of denial of a Chinese visa to an IAS officer from the state.

Last November, during Hu’s visit to India, both sides had agreed on a 10-point strategy to improve the bilateral relationship. Key to this was expediting Special Representative-level talks for an early settlement of the boundary question.

Significantly, China’s subtle but firm attempts to bring back the issue of Arunachal Pradesh into public discourse started just ahead of that visit. First, the Chinese did not entertain India’s request to hold a meeting of the Special Representatives ahead of Hu’s visit. This was followed by Chinese Ambassador Sun Yuxi’s remark, refusal of visas to delegations from Arunachal Pradesh and now the denial of visa to an IAS officer from that state.

While India makes sense of this change in China’s attitudes, top officials have started to grapple with the question of whether India’s rising global profile and improving ties with the West are contributing to this. Wrapped in secrecy and perfected in planning, sources say, the Chinese approach has first to be deciphered, then understood.