Chinese PM wants to meet Manmohan in Thailand

With India-China ties getting testy in the recent weeks,an official Chinese newspaper spoke of a possible meeting between the two Prime Ministers. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also did not rule out the possibility of the meeting.

“The ministry is still consulting with relevant departments about Premier Wen’s schedule,” a ministry spokesperson was quoted as saying by the state-run Global Times.

Deora told reporters here after his return “He (Wen) asked if Manmohan Singh will be going to Thailand next week to which I replied yes. Twice or thrice he said he is looking forward to meeting Manmohan Singh (in Thailand).”

Singh will be travelling to Thailand on October 24 to attend the ASEAN Summit.

Chinese Ambassador Zhang Yan had a meeting with BJP President Rajnath Singh during when he is understood to have said that China wanted to have cordial relations with India.

Sources said Zhang told Singh his country wanted to have cordial relations with India and that media reports about the incursions had aggravated the matter.

China’s objection to Singh’s recent visit to Arunachal Pradesh sparked an angry reaction from India and triggered a war of words between the two countries.

India quickly hit back questioning China’s engagement in projects in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and asked it to stop such activities taking a “long-term view” of India-China ties. It also said that skilled Chinese employees coming to India will only be given employment visas and not business visas.

During his meeting with Rajnath Singh,Ambassador Zhang told the BJP leader that the boundary issue was a “sensitive matter” and that there was a need for confidence building measures,sources close to the BJP chief said.

Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said India took Chinese protest over Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh seriously.

“Of course we take this seriously,and we have been very very particular and very clear and unambivalent in expressing our position to the Chinese. In that way we have said that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India,it is an inalienable part of India,” Rao told All India Radio.

She said the recent developments have intensified the need for the two countries to resolve the outstanding issues with “more seriousness and determination”.

Rao said the boundary issue between India and China is “one of the most complicated” border disputes in the world and both countries are determined to resolve it.

“We must take a realistic view that there are differences,there are differences when it comes to perceiving the Line of Actual Control (LoAC) in the border areas. And there are differences also in terms of conflicting territorial claims,” she added.

Referring to the recent “focus” on incursions by Chinese troops and to the Arunachal Pradesh issue,she said it “intensifies the need for the two sides to really sit down to resolve these issues with even more seriousness and determination”.