PART I OF III: PRC/INDIA: INDIAN DIPLOMAT REPORTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 005703 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/22/2016 TAGS: PREL MOPS IN CH SUBJECT: PART I OF III: PRC/INDIA: INDIAN DIPLOMAT REPORTS PROGRESS ON BORDER TALKS Classified By: Political External Unit Chief Edgard Kagan. Reasons 1.4 (b/d). Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) Border talks between China and India are making progress, according to an Indian Embassy officer, who described the March 11-13 discussions between Indian National Security Advisor Shri M.K. Narayanan and EVFM Dai Bingguo as "optimistic." He also noted that Indian PM Singh and President Hu Jintao are taking interest in the issue and are personally involved. Both sides agreed to a three-phase approach to conducting the talks: setting principles to guide the negotiations, establishing a framework for delineating the border and implementing the framework. The most recent round reached an initial agreement on the framework, according to the Indian diplomat, who said that both sides have resolved to settle all the disputed border regions under one agreement based on the current political conditions of the region rather than on historical records. Last April, a protocol was signed between the two sides on how to handle a wide range of issues along the border. According to the Indian diplomat, the protocol established rules for both sides to follow and drew red lines, in essence a quasi-boundary that both sides have agreed upon. End Summary. Second Round of the Second Phase -------------- ¶2. (C) Border demarcation talks between China and India are making significant progress, Indian Embassy political officer Madhusudhanan Sridharan told Poloff during a March 22 briefing on China's Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo's March 11-13 trip to India for border control talks. Sridharan described the talks as very "optimistic," saying that while this was the seventh meeting of the two sides' Special Representatives on the boundary issue, the March meeting was actually the second round of talks on the second stage of the negotiations. Sridharan claimed that the two sides were able to agree upon a framework for resolving the territorial dispute. Neither China nor India have announced the progress but both sides have publicly stated that the talks have not stagnated, according to Sridharan. There is urgency on both sides to make progress and Prime Minister Singh and President Hu Jintao are personally engaged on the resolution of the border dispute, he claimed. The Process -------------- ¶3. (C) The border negotiations build upon the 1993 Line of Control agreement and the 1996 Confidence Building Measure agreement, according to Sridharan. In 2003 the two sides appointed Special Representatives to handle the border negotiations. These special representatives, PRC Executive Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo and Indian National Security Advisor Shri M.K. Narayanan, have met often. Sridharan said the two sides have agreed to a three phase approach to solving their dispute: the two sides will first agree upon "guiding principles," followed by agreement on a framework for resolving disagreements about the border after which the two sides will move to implement the agreement. According to Sridharan, India and the PRC were able to agree upon the guiding principles and the negotiations are now in the framework phase. Sridharan claims an initial consensus was reached on the framework during the March 11-13 discussions. The details of this framework have not been made public because the two sides want to prevent interest groups from attempting to derail the implementation of the agreement, Sridharan stated. ¶4. (C) The meetings between the Special Representatives follow no fixed timing structure, according to Shridharan. This flexibility has allowed the two sides to make rapid progress, he asserted. The absence of a structured timetable for holding meetings, according to Sridharan, eliminates unnecessary pressure to achieve a consensus by an artificially imposed date while at the same time allows the two sides to quickly call a meeting if decisions have been reached. The eighth round of border talks, which Sridharan also referred to as the third round of the second phase, will take place in BEIJING 00005703 002 OF 002 Beijing at an undetermined future date. Tangible Results -------------- ¶5. (C) Sridharan claims that real progress has been made on the border issue both in principle and on the ground. The two sides agreed in principle to settle the boundary based on the current political situation rather than on geography or historical records or events. India and the PRC also agreed that the entire disputed border, the Western, Central and Eastern sections, will be resolved under one agreement. Shridharan commented that New Delhi and Beijing still do not agree on the root causes of the border dispute but agree that the situation must be resolved. ¶6. (C) The September 2005 meeting of the Special Representatives in Beijing launched the second phase of the negotiations, according to Sridharan. At that meeting, the two sides agreed to implement the agreement on a Line of Control Protocol written in April 2005. According to Sridharan, this was the most sensitive stage of the negotiations thus far and is also the clearest signal that the two sides will find a resolution to the border conflict in the near term. The protocol established procedures for military training exercises, how to handle unauthorized entry into controlled airspace, and contingencies for handling natural disasters in the region. According to Sri, the protocol established rules for both sides to follow and drew red lines, in essence a quasi- boundary that both sides have agreed upon. Sridharan commented that the Chinese side initially did not want to take this step, preferring to rely on "friendly relations" to resolve questions along the disputed border. Reaching this agreement set the stage for rapid progress on reaching a consensus on the border agreement framework, Sridharan said, and once the framework is agreed upon the implementation phase will happen quite quickly to prevent confusion along the border. Sridharan said that while the border talks do not happen in a "vacuum" both sides are genuinely committed to seeing this issue resolved and try to limit the effects of tensions in the bilateral relationship from impacting the negotiations. China-India Documents on the Border Issue -------------- ¶7. (C) Shridharan provided Poloff the texts of two April 2005 agreements reached between China and India on the border issue. RANDT