Gadkari visit: China acknowledges India’s concerns, seeks resolution
By IANSSaturday, January 22, 2011
BEIJING - China Saturday acknowledged the “core concerns” of India raised by visiting Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin Gadkari and agreed that these issues should be resolved through peaceful negotiations and in a mutually acceptable manner.
While the existing mechanisms and the government channels will try to resolve these issues, the political parties in both the countries should help in creating an atmosphere and public opinion conducive to an early resolution of the mutual concerns, said Wang Jia Rui, the Chinese minister of international department and a member of the central committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), during a meeting with Gadkari and his party delegation.
Gadkari had raised the border dispute, the recent practice of giving stapled visas for the people of Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir wanting to visit China and Chinese development work in Pakistan-administered Kashmir - which the BJP maintains is an integral part of India - while voicing his party’s “serious concern” over Islamabad’s continued support cross-border terrorism during his wide-ranging talks with Chinese leaders Friday.
Gadkari began a five-day visit to China Wednesday.
Responding to Gadkari’s offer of cooperation with China in the BJP-ruled states, Wang said Beijing would be willing to enhance bilateral cooperation with these states particularly in the manufacturing sector, IT services, pharmaceuticals and agricultural products,
The Chinese minister wished the BJP leader great success in the next general elections and said both the BJP and CPC must do something tangible to promote party to party contact at different levels.
Gadkari, while reiterating his party’s core concerns, hoped that the CPC would review its position on these issues of great importance to the BJP which were having an adverse impact on China’s image in India in general and among the party rank and file in particular.
He particularly said China had a great influence on Pakistan and on this very important issue of terrorism the BJP would expect Beijing to take it up with Islamabad and put pressure on them to stop “exporting terror” to India and act against the perpetrators of all acts of terrorism on Indian soil, including the culprits responsible for the Mumbai attack.
