IndiaPost.com - Pranab in Beijing, calls for patience on dispute

BEIJING: India and China will have to be "patient and realistic" in resolving the festering boundary dispute, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on June 6, underscoring New Delhi's determination not to allow the differences to be an obstacle in enhancing bilateral ties.

"We will have to be patient and realistic", Mukherjee said in his speech at the prestigious Peking University while emphasizing that both countries were mature enough to realize and address the "difficult issues" in the bilateral relationship. "We need to resolve these differences through negotiations in a constructive and forward looking manner," the minister, who is on a four-day visit to the country, said. Noting that the boundary between the two countries was peaceful and "we are determined to keep it so", Mukherjee said both had evolved mechanisms and gained experience to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas.

The two countries had agreed on a set of Political Parameters and Guiding Principles to find a mutually satisfactory solution. Mukherjee, during talks with his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi yesterday, raised the issue of Beijing's recent claim over the 'finger area' in Sikkim border, while both sides "emphasized their determination to maintain peace and tranquility along border and not to disturb the status quo". Explaining the contours of India's foreign policy to the faculty and students, Mukherjee said India guards its strategic autonomy and stands by the principles of independence and freedom of action in external relations.

But this had not prevented India from developing friendships and good relations with all the major countries. "We believe this is the strength of our foreign policy," Mukherjee said. "Friendship between India and any one of the strategic partners is not at the expense of relations with any third country or another strategic partner.

Our ties are not a product of strategic expediency, but of a long term vision". Mukherjee also said India's engagement with the world was not only to preserve peace and stability and it also contributed to a world order in which peace and progress could be sustained. "We believe that India is a factor of stability and a voice of moderation in the world. We remain anchored to the principles of Panchsheel which were jointly articulated by India and China". He said he believed that India-China relations would be one of the more significant factors that would determine the course of human history in the 21st century.-