Why the Li-Manmohan meeting was a massive flop

In essence, the two leaders have agreed to keep talking-just as they’ve been doing since 1993. There was a lot of positive buzz, but the actual take-aways are just the same old blah. The issue: The recent tensions at Daulat Beg Oldi The take-away: No breakthrough, but we’ll keep talking. What Manmohan said: We took stock of lessons learnt from recent incident on Western sector. Special representatives have been asked to consider further measures that may be needed to maintain peace along the border. What Li said: We’ve worked to maintaining tranquility and peace in the border areas. We need to improve various border-related mechanisms put into place and make them more efficient. Firstpost Take: There had been lots of speculation-not in Firstpost!-that the Manmohan-Li summit would see progress on concrete measures to make sure tensions don’t break out again on the Line of Actual Control. [caption id=“attachment_798135” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  PTI[/caption] The two Prime Ministers instead basically reiterated what the two countries had signed on to in a 1993 agreement: “Pending an ultimate solution to the boundary question between the two countries, the two sides shall strictly respect and observe the line of actual control between the two sides. No activities of either side shall overstep the line of actual control”. Indeed, the 1993 agreement said “two sides agree to reduce their military forces along the line of actual control in conformity with the requirements of the principle of mutual and equal security to ceilings to be mutually agreed”. It hasn’t stopped both China and India from engaging in significant military infrastructure-building. The issue: The disputed India-China border. The take-away:: No breakthrough, but we’ll keep talking What Manmohan said Special representatives will meet soon seeking early agreement for fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable boundary settlement. What Li said: Both sides believe, with regard to boundary question, the sides have developed principles to settling the question Firstpost Take: Not a lot has happened on actually settling the China-India border dispute since 1993, when the two countries agreed that the “boundary question shall be resolved through peaceful and friendly consultations”. In essence, India claims large swathes of territory in Aksai Chin, which China took over in the 1950s and has no intention of giving up. China claims Arunachal Pradesh, which India has no intention of giving up. The two sides have to do a swap-but politicians in both countries fear a nationalist backlash. Since 2005, National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon has been regularly engaged in talks based on an agreement signed that year, which commits the countries to “make meaningful and mutually acceptable adjustments to their respective positions on the boundary question, so as to arrive at a package settlement”. The issue: The fate of the Brahmaputra river The take-away:: No breakthrough, but we’ll keep talking What Manmohan said: “Glad that we have agreed to extend cooperation on trans-border rivers”. What Li said: “With respect to trans-border rivers, we’ve shared hydrological information with India in recent years; ready to step up communication” Firstpost take: China is building dams at Dagu, Jiacha and Jiexu on the Brahmaputra, as well as a 510 MW water project at Zangmu. India fears that this will affect water flow on the river–hurting agriculture in states like Assam. China insists that the projects are run-of-the-river–that is, they won’t store any water. Prime Minister Singh raised the issue with China at the BRICS summit in March, but it shot down Indian proposals for a new mechanism to address the issue, saying existing ones were adequate. Indian officials are currently in Beijing, sharing water data with their Chinese counterparts as part of an annual dialogue.