Border deal at stake, ITBP cancels press meet to avoid angering China

With Prime Minister Manmohan Singh set to meet Chinese President Xi Jinpeng on an official visit to the country, it seems that the government is pulling out all stops to ensure that nothing sours the mood of conciliation. The focus of the visit to China will be the proposed landmark Border Defence Cooperation Agreement (BDCA) to avoid face offs between the two armies along the disputed Line of Actual Control. And given how much India is pushing for the agreement to go through, the administration is taking no chances. [caption id=“attachment_1186139” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  PTI[/caption] According to this report in the Times of India, “Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) has cancelled its annual press conference scheduled for Tuesday for the fear of media asking uncomfortable questions on Chinese border incursions at a time when PM Manmohan Singh is visiting the country.” The report adds that “Senior officers of the force, which is without a chief for almost two months now, are afraid if any statement issued on the situation at India-China border falls out of line with the mood at the bilateral meet in Beijing on Tuesday, it could not only vitiate the atmosphere but also lead to action against them for speaking out of line.  The BDCA, which provides for ‘no tailing’ of each other and ‘no shooting’ by troops of both sides, is expected to boost steps to maintain peace, tranquility and status quo on the border with China. Coming against the backdrop of the longest face off in Depsang valley in Ladakh this summer, where PLA troops stayed put for over 20 days, it will be a step forward over the 2005 accord that set out standard operating procedures and be part of the confidence building mechanism between the two countries. “Maintenance of peace, tranquility and stability of our border is an important factor in our bilateral ties and it is expected that this would be an important aspect of the discussions as it is also the basis on which the rest of our bilateral relationship can proceed and grow,” Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh told the media last week in her pre-visit briefing. An agreement to put in place a liberalised visa regime during the visit has been deferred after the recent bitter episode of China issuing stapled visas to two archers from Arunachal Pradesh. Earlier, there were indications of the visa regime being relaxed with China urging India to ease rules for issuing visas to industrialists and professionals wanting to come here and India also seeking reciprocity. During the visit, India will convey its serious concerns over the stapled visa issue as also the growing nuclear cooperation between China and Pakistan. Seeking to expand bilateral economic ties, the two countries have set a target of  $100 billion by 2015. But India suffers from a huge trade imbalance against China. The possibility of Chinese investment in through opening industrial park is being examined. Like in Moscow, at the culmination of the visit to Beijing a joint statement will be issued. Signing of agreements is likely in some areas on which officials were working, the foreign secretary said.