Beijing welcomes border exchanges: defense minister
Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar's first visit to China is expected to center on border issues, showcasing the two sides' continuing efforts to tackle boundary disputes while defending the status quo in bilateral ties, experts said.
Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan said the Chinese side is positive toward establishing a hotline between the Chinese and Indian armed forces headquarters and hopes to enhance border exchanges and make joint efforts to maintain peace and stability, the Xinhua News Agency reported Monday.
"India attaches the highest priority to relations with China and is committed to further developing friendly and cooperative relations with China," Parrikar told Chang on Monday in his opening remarks before the two delegations started talks in Beijing, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.
As the Indian government has long been dedicated to settling border disputes with China, Parrikar's visit to China aims to reduce tensions caused by border patrols, although the issue cannot be solved overnight, said Zhao Gancheng, director of South Asia Studies at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies.
Normal patrols on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control have been portrayed in the Indian press as "aggressive" incursions in the Indian territory.
In a fresh standoff between the two sides in March, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang denied accusations of "border crossing," saying some media "twisted the facts and hyped up the China-Indian boundary question."
"Despite a Border Defense Cooperation Agreement, its implementation is problematic," said Fu Xiaoqiang, an expert on South Asian studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, citing media hype and the tough stance on China taken by certain Indian politicians.
Beijing and New Delhi inked the agreement in October 2013 during former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to China, formulating a formal mechanism to improve security along the more than-4,000-kilometer border.
While wrongly considering the agreement as a signal of China's acquiescence in the status quo of the disputed territories on the eastern section of the border, India has demanded fewer normal patrols by the Chinese troops in the western section, Fu noted, calling the country "insatiable."
The overreaction from the Indian side has cooled the peaceful climate to a certain extent, Fu said, adding that it is also one of the reasons that several exchanges between military officials from both sides have made little headway on border issues.
At Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with visiting Vice Chairman of China's Central Military Commission Fan Changlong in November 2015, Modi expressed his wish to deepen military exchanges with China to help develop bilateral ties and safeguard peace and stability in border areas between the two neighbors.
India's home minister Rajnath Singh also visited China in late November.
"Recurring incidents of incursions and implementation of an agreement to reduce tensions between border patrols" are among the issues expected to figure in Parrikar's talks with top Chinese military officials, according to the Press Trust of India.
Assurance trip
Parrikar is also likely to assure China that India is pursing an "independent" foreign policy, days after India decided to sign a logistics support agreement with the US, India Today reported.
Fearing an expansion of China's influence in the South China Sea and into the Indian Ocean, on April 12, India agreed in principle with the U.S. to share military logistics, as both sides seek to counter China, Reuters reported.
"As defense cooperation takes up a great part of India-U.S. ties, India is aware that any closer collaboration with the U.S. will keep China alert," Zhao told the Global Times.
However, since India, a country that upholds an independent foreign policy and makes its foreign policies based on its own interests, is also unwilling to sour diplomatic relations with China for the U.S., Parrikar might take the initiative to explain the logistics support agreement, Fu said.
