Manmohan voices India's concern

PM-Li talks on incursion, trade & rivers Manmohan Singh has raised "upfront" the importance of peace and tranquillity on the Line of Actual Control with Li Keqiang. He has also raised with Li concerns over issues pertaining to trans-border rivers especially construction of three additional dams by China on Brahmaputra river. New Delhi (PTI): In a firm message to China, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday night voiced India's serious concern over the recent Chinese incursion in Ladakh and told his counterpart Li Keqiang that in the absence of peace and tranquillity along the border, bilateral ties would suffer as the two leaders held hour-long cordial but candid talks. The 57-year-old Li, on his first foreign trip since becoming Prime Minister two months ago, met Singh at his official residence along with select number of aides from both sides when they exchanged views on the contentious boundary dispute, trans-border rivers and trade deficit.

Given that the meeting took place about a month after a 19 km deep incursion by the Chinese troops in Depsang valley in Ladakh which was resolved only two weeks ago, the focus was on the stand-off there and Singh conveyed India's serious concerns over the breach of status quo by China. He emphasised that maintaining peace and tranquillity along the Line of actual Control was essential for good bilateral ties, a point with which Li agreed. The restricted talks were followed by a dinner which was attended by UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi, Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj, BJP leader Arun Jaitley and CPM general secretary Prakash Karat. Singh also raised "upfront" other issues of priority interest, including concerns on water flows of trans border rivers, especially in view of construction of three additional dams approved by China on Brahmaputra river. India has been pressing China to have either a water commission or an inter-governmental dialogue to deal with water issues as under the current Expert Level Mechanism (ELM), the two countries only share hydrological information. "The Prime Minister articulated views in constructive but firm manner," sources said, adding that stage is now set for the longer format of talks on Monday. India has been pressing for clarification and confirmation on Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the India-China border areas pending the final settlement. Noting that in the agreements worked out in 1993 and 1996 there were clarifications on the differing perceptions on LAC and exchanges on it, official sources earlier said somehow in later years, this went off the table from the Chinese side, probably because there was a sense that it may be taken as a default boundary. Meanwhile, a Border Defence Cooperation Agreement proposed by China is also being discussed, the sources said. External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and senior officials including National security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai and India's Ambassador to China S Jaishankar from the Indian side were also present at the meeting between Singh and Li. Singh also stressed the need to address the trade deficit which was highly in favour of China. India has been pressing China for access to the Chinese market. In 2012, bilateral trade was $66 billion, a decline over the $74 billion in 2011. The two countries have set a target of $100 billion by 2015 for bilateral trade. India faces a growing trade deficit viz a vis China. By end 2011, India's trade deficit was $27 billion. According to Chinese trade figures released in January 2013, the figure rose to $29 billion by 2012. Apart from trade, India is also the largest market for project exports from China.