‘Stapled’ visas, trust issues at talks today

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Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao came the closest to addressing one of India’s many concerns when he told an industry conference soon after arriving here on Wednesday that he will be ready to give Indian IT, pharmaceuticals and agriculture companies access to the Chinese market so that India’s $19 billion trade deficit with China can be bridged. He said China takes the issue of trade imbalance seriously, and is ready to work with India to increase the scale and expand the scope of bilateral cooperation.
Mr Wen said earlier that there was “enough space” in the world for both China and India to grow and enough areas for them to cooperate. He dismissed the notion of rivalry or “vicious competition” between the Chinese “dragon” and the Indian “elephant”, saying the two countries “are partners for cooperation, and not rivals in competition.” He said: “There is enough space in the world for the development of both China and India and there are enough areas for us to cooperate.”
The Chinese Premier steered clear of other contentious issues, but in the evening Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is understood to have broached some of them with Mr Wen when they met over a private dinner. The two leaders are expected to focus at some length on trust and confidence-building when they hold delegation-level talks on Thursday. The attempt will be to rebalance the “chi” (energy or life force in Chinese; or prana in yoga) in the Sino-Indian relationship, if not to entirely reset the ties.
For its part, New Delhi is likely to raise questions about China’s policy on Jammu and Kashmir, Chinese infrastructure projects in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and the issue of “stapled” visas issued to Indian citizens residing in Jammu and Kashmir. Then there is the lingering border dispute, and the damming of the Brahmaputra river. Government sources said any claims of a fall in cases of “stapled” Chinese visas being issued to Indian citizens living in Jammu and Kashmir were false. They attributed any drop to the fact that China had started rejecting visa applications of J&K residents. “The cases have come down for the simple reason that visas are not being issued to J&K residents,” an official said. The home ministry has taken strong objection to the treatment meted out to J&K residents. An official said Beijing must be sensitive to India’s “core” concerns just as New Delhi is to Chinese sensitivities on Tibet and Taiwan.
Addressing the business summit, Mr Wen described his second visit here in five years as a “journey of friendship and cooperation”. He said both sides can seek to expand the areas of cooperation to include tourism, energy, environment protection, banking and the financial sector, science and tech, education, culture and health. Industry representatives from the two countries signed around 50 memorandums of understanding worth $ 16 billion.
On Thursday, both sides are likely to announce the establishment of a CEOs’ Forum. Agreements on areas ranging from trade and renewable energy to infrastructure and finance are also likely to be signed. Mr Wen will be accorded a ceremonial reception in the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan. He will lay a wreath at Rajghat and then reach Hyderabad House for the delegation-level talks. Mr Wen will deliver a much-anticipated speech at Sapru House, home of the Indian Council of World Affairs, before holding separate meetings with vice-president Hamid Ansari and Congress president Sonia Gandhi. He will call on President Pratibha Patil in the evening and participate in the closing ceremony of the Chinese Festival in India. On Friday, he will meet Sushma Swaraj, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, before leaving for Pakistan.