India and China on Thursday decided to embark on a maritime cooperation dialogue as part of confidence-building measures. This was finalised by the foreign ministers of the two countries who also discussed Arunachal Pradesh, Tibet and the recent ill-treatment of Indian traders by Chinese authorities, the boundary dispute and the forthcoming BRICS summit.
External affairs minister S.M. Krishna, after holding talks with his counterpart Yang Jiechi, said, “Every possible issue that is raised whenever an India-China dialogue tak-es place was raised and we have understood each oth-er’s position, and we have understood the perspective, and we will continue to exchange these.” Descr-ibing Sino-Indian ties as positive, Mr Krishna emphasised they need to be strengthened, deepened and broadened. Answer-ing another question, Mr Krishna said, “I did raise the traders issue.”
On the issue of the Siang (Brahmaputra) river, rising in Tibet, having abruptly vanished from a town in Arunachal Pradesh allegedly on account of a dam constructed by China, Mr Krishna said the Chinese ambassador has been apprised of it and would look into the matter. He also referred to his statement in Parliament on the issue and said the satellite imagery of the site has only shown that it was a run-of-the-river hydro-electricity project.
The decision by the two Asian giants to go in for maritime cooperation, which will include cooperation among their Navies and Coast Guards, assumes significance in the wake of both countries resorting to a verbal duel over territorial issues in the South China Sea where India has an abiding interest in Vietnamese oil blocks.