Time to re-stabilize Sino-India relations: Expert

Itanagar, Nov 5 : With China's repeated claims over Arunachal Pradesh, the time has come to re-stabilize relationship between India and its neighbour, observed academician Dr Alka Acharya of School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

Delivering a lecture at the Rajiv Gandhi University here yesterday on 'Understanding China: Redefining Sino-India Relations', Dr Acharya said the strategic partnership between the two Asian giants was the need of the hour.

She also suggested that any contention between the two nations should be solved through dialogue, while citing power race or supremacy in Asia, as the point of conflict between India and China.

''The good relations between India and China should grow to benefit mutually and it should be the focal point,'' she pointed out.

Emphasizing that India needs to achieve food security through agriculture and energy security to match China's growth and infrastructure development, she said infrastructure development on the Chinese side should be an eye opener for India.

To a question as to why India does not protest against China as it does against Pakistan, Dr Acharya said, ''This is probably because China is far developed than India.'' The Indian government, she added, should take steps to be at par with its neighbour in every field.

Participating in the discussion, Dr Ashan Riddi, Associate Professor of History in RGU, opined that Arunachal Pradesh is neither a part of India nor that of China but historically an independent land by itself.

State BJP general secretary Tai Tagak, who participated in the discussion, said the Centre should include the state's people while negotiating with China.

Reacting to Chinese claim over Arunachal, former minister T L Rajkumar said no mention of China was found in the folklores of Arunachal. ''Even the customs of the Arunachalees and the Chinese are not similar, so the question of Arunachal being a part of China does not arise,'' he said.

Regarding China’s objection to the Dalai Lama’s visit to the state, Rajkumar said His Holiness is a guest of Arunachal and can go anywhere to spread his spiritual message.

North East Students’ Organisation (NESO) secretary general Gumjum Haider called China’s claim over Arunachal 'absurd'.

--UNI

(c) 2009 Published with permission from United News of India.
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