Search the SCMP Archives: Advanced -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- More CHINA: Main China Today Business Technology Features Columns Resources: CHINA Government Economics Indicators Media Universities Travel TAIWAN Government Economics Indicators Columns: Around China China Life Beijing Briefing Guangdong Briefing Shanghai Briefing Taipei Briefing What's News Culture Scene Legal View Beijing Byte Tuesday, November 20, 2001 Afghan crisis delays Sino-Indian progress PETER KAMMERER, Foreign Editor Prev. Story | Next Story -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The busiest period ever for Sino-Indian talks has been put back at least six months by the US bombing of Afghanistan, but an unexpected silver lining has emerged, according to an expert on relations between the two. Dr Swaran Singh, a strategic analyst at India's Jawaharlal Nehru University, said yesterday the war against the Taleban and hunt for Osama bin Laden had brought the world's two biggest nations side by side at international forums on security and terrorism. He said the two, who fought a border war in 1962, and have come into lesser military conflict in 1957 and 1986-87, could reach a swifter understanding on numerous disputes as a result of the new-found co-operation. But the border issue remains the main sticking point. Apart from the military actions, there have been numerous "incidents", brought about by over-zealous patrolling and soldiers straying into disputed territory. Both sides have made some recent progress, most notably in June when maps were exchanged for the 2,000-square-km so-called middle sector. This section, Dr Singh said, was the easiest to resolve as ethnic and cultural reasons could be cited in making claims - unlike in the western and eastern sectors. The difficulty also lies in the size of the territory involved, 230,000 square km - bigger than the area of Nepal. Another problem is that no borderline existed between China and India until Europeans introduced the concept of nationhood. Borders became an obsessive issue after India's independence from Britain in 1947 and the creation of modern China two years later. "It's not a matter of agreeing on a delineation of a line on a map - it's a matter of huge territory on which we've had massive misunderstanding," Dr Singh said. "What makes this all the more difficult is that historically we both repeatedly highlighted the fact that India and China are ancient civilisations." As empires, the concept of territory was ill-defined and not as important as it has become. "The first thing that we are trying to do - and we have already exchanged maps - is to agree on the actual line of control," Dr Singh said. "Then of course, we have to go beyond that and see where the borders are, maybe first on the map and then perhaps on the ground." But he conceded that the Afghan crisis had put a hold on border negotiations, official visits and other initiatives which represented the most active six-month period in relations which have been hampered since 1998 when India exploded a nuclear device. Among the casualties were a visit to Beijing by India's Foreign Minister in October and a visit to New Delhi this month by Premier Zhu Rongji. India hopes Mr Zhu's visit can be rescheduled for January and followed by a visit to Beijing by India's Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. During the visits the first direct air route between New Delhi and Beijing will be launched. Dr Singh, speaking at a meeting of the Centre of Asian Studies at Hong Kong University, said he believed China and India faced a brighter future, despite their disputes, which included the tens of thousands of Tibetans living in exile in India and suspicions over Beijing's friendship with Pakistan. While economic growth in the rest of the world is falling or stagnant, China has predicted growth of eight per cent and India five to six per cent. Trade between the two grew 50 per cent last year on the previous year's figures to US$2.3 billion (HK$17.9 billion), with this year's estimate up to US$3.5 billion. The rise in economic growth, Dr Singh said, augured well in helping remove the stumbling blocks to relations. Prev. Story | Next Story Back to Top Home | China | Technology | Weather | Education | Marketplace | Story Index Specials Totally HK | Channel Home | Racing Post | Classifiedpost.com | JiuJik.com Meeting Point | Hotel Guide | PostPhoto | Events | Store Advertising | Contact Us | Privacy Statement | Press Releases Copyright © 2001. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. More Main Stories • Putin briefs Jiang on Bush summit • Get tougher with cults, separatists, Beijing insists • Obey party directives, reshuffled cadres told Special Report: China joins the WTO Print a copy Send this article to a friend