Call for early solution to China border issue

BEIJING: President Pranab Mukherjee called for a resolution of the festering Sino-India boundary problem on Thursday, saying the dispute should not be left as a

BEIJING: President Pranab Mukherjee called for a resolution of the festering Sino-India boundary problem on Thursday, saying the dispute should not be left as a burden on future generations.

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Mukherjee said India and China have differences, but they should resolve the issues with “mutual satisfaction”. A disputed Line of Actual Control currently divides India and China along 3,488 km of mountainous terrain, but it has never been laid down on a map because the two countries have differing perceptions of the border.

“There are challenges, including the boundary question that still needs to be addressed comprehensively. While it is natural for neighbours to have a difference of views on certain issues from time to time, I consider it a test of our political acumen when we are called upon to draw upon our civilisational wisdom and resolve these differences to the mutual satisfaction of both sides,” Mukherjee said in his speech at the prestigious Peking University. Recently, the US had said China had deployed more troops and enhanced its military capabilities along the border with India, though the Chinese state media said the Western press was trying to divide the two neighbours.

“Both sides should work with the aim of ensuring that we do not burden our coming generations by leaving our unresolved problems and differences to them. I am confident that by ensuring that these matters are not aggravated and by remaining sensitive to mutual concerns, we can minimise our differences and maximise our convergences,” Mukherjee said.