Beijing, Oct 23-India and China appear all set to sign a landmark agreement on border cooperation to avoid army face-offs like in Depsang valley in Ladakh recently but plans for putting in place a liberalised visa regime look elusive.
In an exclusive interview with Headlines Today, India’s ambassador to China S Jaishankar told that an agreement for liberalising visas for the Chinese is unlikely to be signed by the two countries.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who arrived here to a warm reception on his three-day visit, will meet Chinese Premier Li Keqiang tomorrow after which the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement (BDCA) will be signed.
This assumes significance in the context of the Depsang valley episode in Ladakh earlier this year when People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops made an intrusion and stayed put for three weeks.
Giving indications that decks have been cleared for signing of BDCA, sources said, “Don’t ask about the outcomes now. We will give you details tomorrow (Wednesday).”
The BDCA was cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Security last week as part of further confidence building measures to avoid incidents along the Line of Actual Control which has seen many intrusions from the Chinese side.
The BDCA also provides for setting up of a hotline between the DGMOs of the two countries on the lines of the mechanism India has with Pakistan.
The deal is expected to be cleared after talks between Singh and Li, who will host a lunch for the Prime Minister.
This is the second meeting between the two leaders in five months after the Chinese Premier visited India in May.
Tomorrow, President Xi Jinping will also host a banquet dinner for Singh, signifying the importance attached to the Indian leader’s visit.
On his arrival, the Prime Minister said he was looking forward to promoting further cooperation between India and China and between the Chinese leadership and himself.
“I am very happy to be in China. China is is our great neighbour. We have centuries-old relationship. We have lots of things to discuss,” Singh told reporters.
The Prime Minister was received by Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhai Aun.
-Indiatoday
