Bilateral talks: India, China discusss about visas, LoC

New Delhi: India and China on Sunday attempted to set the tone and trajectory for their bilateral ties under the new BJP-led government here with visiting Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi holding a three-hour-plus meeting with external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj.

Among the niggling “perennial” issues raised by India at Sunday’s meeting were the long-pending boundary dispute. Also among the “perennials” learnt to have been discussed was the matter of stapled visas issued by the Chinese to residents of Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, Chinese incursions across the Line of Actual Control, construction of dams on the Brahmaputra and India’s mounting trade deficit with China.

The Chinese foreign minister is here as the special envoy of President Xi Jinping to engage with the new Narendra Modi government. He will call on both Mr Modi and President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday.

Significantly, Prime Minister Modi, while speaking at a book release function at his residence Sunday evening, indicated India had to learn a lot from its Asian neighbour.
The Chinese President is expected to visit New Delhi later this year.