07-10-2006, 09:08 PM
<b>India's tail is not between the legs while dealing with PRC. Mudy appears to have been fed totally wrong information on pressent day progress in India-China relations.The following first page story of the International Herald Tribune gives the latest-
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Along the Silk Road, a smoothing of tensions
By David Lague and Amelia Gentleman International Herald Tribune
Published: July 6, 2006
BEIJING China and India reopened an ancient Himalayan border pass Thursday, symbolizing how burgeoning trade and warming political ties between the rising Asian giants are gradually eroding bitter historical enmities.
The Nathu-la Pass, once part of the ancient Silk Road that linked China and India, was reopened for local trade 44 years after it was shut during a brief but fierce border war.
The mountain pass, at a height of 4,545 meters, or 14,910 feet, connects Yadong County in Tibet with the northeast Indian state of Sikkim.
Signboards warning "You are under enemy observation now" have been replaced by notices declaring in Chinese: "Please come here. We are very good friends," Indian media reported.
After painstaking negotiations, Beijing and New Delhi have resumed trade at three remote passes along their 3,500-kilometer, or 2,175-mile, frontier, although major sections of the border remain in dispute.
Trade and political analysts on both sides say the agreement to expand border commerce demonstrates how a joint commitment to economic cooperation is reducing the importance of longstanding territorial disputes between the two countries.
"This is an indicator of the growing economic relationship between India and China," said Yan Xuetong, an international relations specialist at Tsinghua University in Beijing. "Both sides are hungry for trade."
The pass opening coincided with the birthday of the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who has lived in exile in India since 1959.
Broadcasting footage of local officials exchanging silk scarves at the world's highest trading post, Indian media heralded this as a new beginning for Chinese-Indian relations.
Some analysts say the parallel rise of China and India has the potential to reshape the global economic and political order, particularly if the two nuclear-armed powers can avoid strategic competition or further conflict.
Regular high-level exchanges in recent years have allowed them to overcome much of the mutual suspicion arising from the border war in 1962.
Economic links that languished for decades after the war are now booming. Two-way trade last year soared 37.5 percent to $18.7 billion, according to Chinese government figures. Trade this year is expected to easily surpass the $20 billion mark, a target both governments have set for 2008.
Both sides have made concessions - some discreetly - so that territorial disagreements do not dominate the relationship.
Indian analysts said the opening of the crossing sealed Beijing's acceptance of the tiny, remote region of Sikkim - nestled between Nepal and the kingdom of Bhutan, high in the Himalayas - as an Indian state.
The dispute over this once-independent principality, which was annexed by India in 1975 and subsequently claimed by China, represented a thorn in bilateral relations until last year, when Beijing finally recognized the Indian annexation as part of talks to improve relations between the two countries.
"I am very happy," the chief minister of Sikkim, Pawan Kumar Chamling, told local media, adding that he hoped it would be a watershed in relations between the two countries. "My long- cherished dream is being fulfilled."
Muchkund Dubey, an academic specializing in Southeast Asian studies and a former foreign secretary of India, said the opening was an important step forward in relations between the two countries despite the continued presence of other areas of tension. "Sikkim was a symbol of war," he said. "With the opening of this pass, China now recognizes the state of Sikkim as part of India.
"There are still unresolved problems. There is an ongoing border question and India remains concerned about China's role in South Asia, as the most important source of military supply to the countries in the region, and the impact this has on the balance of power."
New Delhi, for its part, has officially recognized Chinese sovereignty over Tibet, despite continuing to be host to the Dalai Lama.
Brahma Chellaney, professor of strategic studies with the Center for Policy Research, in New Delhi, said that the trade route would strengthen the Chinese hold on Tibet.
"This is the route that the Dalai Lama took when he fled from Tibet in 1959," he said. "The date of the opening of the pass was fixed by the Chinese, and it's no coincidence that this is happening on 71st birthday of the Dalai Lama."
Official exchanges between the two sides have been warming steadily. Prime Minister Wen Jiabao of China told a visiting Indian parliamentary delegation Tuesday that Beijing wanted the two countries to share growth and prosperity, the official Xinhua press agency reported. "Only if we two countries become strong can we talk about the era of Asia and can we contribute to human progress," Wen was quoted as saying.
A spokesman for the Ministry of External Affairs in India said: "It is a very important development given the history of relations between the two countries. It is in keeping with the steady development of Indo-Chinese relations and is a reflection of the determination of both countries to improve their relationship."
Nathu-la is about 460 kilometers from the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, and 550 kilometers from Calcutta.
The pass, which once accounted for up to 80 percent of commerce between the two countries, is unlikely to have an immediate impact on the overall trading relationship.
Under agreements reached between the two governments in the early 1990s, border trade is restricted to areas close to the agreed crossing points.
Trade in markets on each side of the border at Nathu-la are also restricted to 29 items from India, including textiles, agricultural tools, liquor, tobacco, cooking oil and rice. From China, traders can sell 15 items, including livestock, wool, animal skins and silk.
Amelia Gentleman reported from New Delhi.
BEIJING China and India reopened an ancient Himalayan border pass Thursday, symbolizing how burgeoning trade and warming political ties between the rising Asian giants are gradually eroding bitter historical enmities.
The Nathu-la Pass, once part of the ancient Silk Road that linked China and India, was reopened for local trade 44 years after it was shut during a brief but fierce border war.
The mountain pass, at a height of 4,545 meters, or 14,910 feet, connects Yadong County in Tibet with the northeast Indian state of Sikkim.
Signboards warning "You are under enemy observation now" have been replaced by notices declaring in Chinese: "Please come here. We are very good friends," Indian media reported.
After painstaking negotiations, Beijing and New Delhi have resumed trade at three remote passes along their 3,500-kilometer, or 2,175-mile, frontier, although major sections of the border remain in dispute.
Trade and political analysts on both sides say the agreement to expand border commerce demonstrates how a joint commitment to economic cooperation is reducing the importance of longstanding territorial disputes between the two countries.
"This is an indicator of the growing economic relationship between India and China," said Yan Xuetong, an international relations specialist at Tsinghua University in Beijing. "Both sides are hungry for trade."
The pass opening coincided with the birthday of the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who has lived in exile in India since 1959.
Broadcasting footage of local officials exchanging silk scarves at the world's highest trading post, Indian media heralded this as a new beginning for Chinese-Indian relations.
Some analysts say the parallel rise of China and India has the potential to reshape the global economic and political order, particularly if the two nuclear-armed powers can avoid strategic competition or further conflict.
Regular high-level exchanges in recent years have allowed them to overcome much of the mutual suspicion arising from the border war in 1962.
Economic links that languished for decades after the war are now booming. Two-way trade last year soared 37.5 percent to $18.7 billion, according to Chinese government figures. Trade this year is expected to easily surpass the $20 billion mark, a target both governments have set for 2008.
Both sides have made concessions - some discreetly - so that territorial disagreements do not dominate the relationship.
Indian analysts said the opening of the crossing sealed Beijing's acceptance of the tiny, remote region of Sikkim - nestled between Nepal and the kingdom of Bhutan, high in the Himalayas - as an Indian state.
The dispute over this once-independent principality, which was annexed by India in 1975 and subsequently claimed by China, represented a thorn in bilateral relations until last year, when Beijing finally recognized the Indian annexation as part of talks to improve relations between the two countries.
"I am very happy," the chief minister of Sikkim, Pawan Kumar Chamling, told local media, adding that he hoped it would be a watershed in relations between the two countries. "My long- cherished dream is being fulfilled."
Muchkund Dubey, an academic specializing in Southeast Asian studies and a former foreign secretary of India, said the opening was an important step forward in relations between the two countries despite the continued presence of other areas of tension. "Sikkim was a symbol of war," he said. "With the opening of this pass, China now recognizes the state of Sikkim as part of India.
"There are still unresolved problems. There is an ongoing border question and India remains concerned about China's role in South Asia, as the most important source of military supply to the countries in the region, and the impact this has on the balance of power."
New Delhi, for its part, has officially recognized Chinese sovereignty over Tibet, despite continuing to be host to the Dalai Lama.
Brahma Chellaney, professor of strategic studies with the Center for Policy Research, in New Delhi, said that the trade route would strengthen the Chinese hold on Tibet.
"This is the route that the Dalai Lama took when he fled from Tibet in 1959," he said. "The date of the opening of the pass was fixed by the Chinese, and it's no coincidence that this is happening on 71st birthday of the Dalai Lama."
Official exchanges between the two sides have been warming steadily. Prime Minister Wen Jiabao of China told a visiting Indian parliamentary delegation Tuesday that Beijing wanted the two countries to share growth and prosperity, the official Xinhua press agency reported. "Only if we two countries become strong can we talk about the era of Asia and can we contribute to human progress," Wen was quoted as saying.
A spokesman for the Ministry of External Affairs in India said: "It is a very important development given the history of relations between the two countries. It is in keeping with the steady development of Indo-Chinese relations and is a reflection of the determination of both countries to improve their relationship."
Nathu-la is about 460 kilometers from the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, and 550 kilometers from Calcutta.
The pass, which once accounted for up to 80 percent of commerce between the two countries, is unlikely to have an immediate impact on the overall trading relationship.
Under agreements reached between the two governments in the early 1990s, border trade is restricted to areas close to the agreed crossing points.
Trade in markets on each side of the border at Nathu-la are also restricted to 29 items from India, including textiles, agricultural tools, liquor, tobacco, cooking oil and rice. From China, traders can sell 15 items, including livestock, wool, animal skins and silk.
Amelia Gentleman reported from New Delhi.
Unquote
Such things do not come about unless there is sufficient self confidence and mutual trust betwee the two sides.</b>
Quote
Quote
Along the Silk Road, a smoothing of tensions
By David Lague and Amelia Gentleman International Herald Tribune
Published: July 6, 2006
BEIJING China and India reopened an ancient Himalayan border pass Thursday, symbolizing how burgeoning trade and warming political ties between the rising Asian giants are gradually eroding bitter historical enmities.
The Nathu-la Pass, once part of the ancient Silk Road that linked China and India, was reopened for local trade 44 years after it was shut during a brief but fierce border war.
The mountain pass, at a height of 4,545 meters, or 14,910 feet, connects Yadong County in Tibet with the northeast Indian state of Sikkim.
Signboards warning "You are under enemy observation now" have been replaced by notices declaring in Chinese: "Please come here. We are very good friends," Indian media reported.
After painstaking negotiations, Beijing and New Delhi have resumed trade at three remote passes along their 3,500-kilometer, or 2,175-mile, frontier, although major sections of the border remain in dispute.
Trade and political analysts on both sides say the agreement to expand border commerce demonstrates how a joint commitment to economic cooperation is reducing the importance of longstanding territorial disputes between the two countries.
"This is an indicator of the growing economic relationship between India and China," said Yan Xuetong, an international relations specialist at Tsinghua University in Beijing. "Both sides are hungry for trade."
The pass opening coincided with the birthday of the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who has lived in exile in India since 1959.
Broadcasting footage of local officials exchanging silk scarves at the world's highest trading post, Indian media heralded this as a new beginning for Chinese-Indian relations.
Some analysts say the parallel rise of China and India has the potential to reshape the global economic and political order, particularly if the two nuclear-armed powers can avoid strategic competition or further conflict.
Regular high-level exchanges in recent years have allowed them to overcome much of the mutual suspicion arising from the border war in 1962.
Economic links that languished for decades after the war are now booming. Two-way trade last year soared 37.5 percent to $18.7 billion, according to Chinese government figures. Trade this year is expected to easily surpass the $20 billion mark, a target both governments have set for 2008.
Both sides have made concessions - some discreetly - so that territorial disagreements do not dominate the relationship.
Indian analysts said the opening of the crossing sealed Beijing's acceptance of the tiny, remote region of Sikkim - nestled between Nepal and the kingdom of Bhutan, high in the Himalayas - as an Indian state.
The dispute over this once-independent principality, which was annexed by India in 1975 and subsequently claimed by China, represented a thorn in bilateral relations until last year, when Beijing finally recognized the Indian annexation as part of talks to improve relations between the two countries.
"I am very happy," the chief minister of Sikkim, Pawan Kumar Chamling, told local media, adding that he hoped it would be a watershed in relations between the two countries. "My long- cherished dream is being fulfilled."
Muchkund Dubey, an academic specializing in Southeast Asian studies and a former foreign secretary of India, said the opening was an important step forward in relations between the two countries despite the continued presence of other areas of tension. "Sikkim was a symbol of war," he said. "With the opening of this pass, China now recognizes the state of Sikkim as part of India.
"There are still unresolved problems. There is an ongoing border question and India remains concerned about China's role in South Asia, as the most important source of military supply to the countries in the region, and the impact this has on the balance of power."
New Delhi, for its part, has officially recognized Chinese sovereignty over Tibet, despite continuing to be host to the Dalai Lama.
Brahma Chellaney, professor of strategic studies with the Center for Policy Research, in New Delhi, said that the trade route would strengthen the Chinese hold on Tibet.
"This is the route that the Dalai Lama took when he fled from Tibet in 1959," he said. "The date of the opening of the pass was fixed by the Chinese, and it's no coincidence that this is happening on 71st birthday of the Dalai Lama."
Official exchanges between the two sides have been warming steadily. Prime Minister Wen Jiabao of China told a visiting Indian parliamentary delegation Tuesday that Beijing wanted the two countries to share growth and prosperity, the official Xinhua press agency reported. "Only if we two countries become strong can we talk about the era of Asia and can we contribute to human progress," Wen was quoted as saying.
A spokesman for the Ministry of External Affairs in India said: "It is a very important development given the history of relations between the two countries. It is in keeping with the steady development of Indo-Chinese relations and is a reflection of the determination of both countries to improve their relationship."
Nathu-la is about 460 kilometers from the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, and 550 kilometers from Calcutta.
The pass, which once accounted for up to 80 percent of commerce between the two countries, is unlikely to have an immediate impact on the overall trading relationship.
Under agreements reached between the two governments in the early 1990s, border trade is restricted to areas close to the agreed crossing points.
Trade in markets on each side of the border at Nathu-la are also restricted to 29 items from India, including textiles, agricultural tools, liquor, tobacco, cooking oil and rice. From China, traders can sell 15 items, including livestock, wool, animal skins and silk.
Amelia Gentleman reported from New Delhi.
BEIJING China and India reopened an ancient Himalayan border pass Thursday, symbolizing how burgeoning trade and warming political ties between the rising Asian giants are gradually eroding bitter historical enmities.
The Nathu-la Pass, once part of the ancient Silk Road that linked China and India, was reopened for local trade 44 years after it was shut during a brief but fierce border war.
The mountain pass, at a height of 4,545 meters, or 14,910 feet, connects Yadong County in Tibet with the northeast Indian state of Sikkim.
Signboards warning "You are under enemy observation now" have been replaced by notices declaring in Chinese: "Please come here. We are very good friends," Indian media reported.
After painstaking negotiations, Beijing and New Delhi have resumed trade at three remote passes along their 3,500-kilometer, or 2,175-mile, frontier, although major sections of the border remain in dispute.
Trade and political analysts on both sides say the agreement to expand border commerce demonstrates how a joint commitment to economic cooperation is reducing the importance of longstanding territorial disputes between the two countries.
"This is an indicator of the growing economic relationship between India and China," said Yan Xuetong, an international relations specialist at Tsinghua University in Beijing. "Both sides are hungry for trade."
The pass opening coincided with the birthday of the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who has lived in exile in India since 1959.
Broadcasting footage of local officials exchanging silk scarves at the world's highest trading post, Indian media heralded this as a new beginning for Chinese-Indian relations.
Some analysts say the parallel rise of China and India has the potential to reshape the global economic and political order, particularly if the two nuclear-armed powers can avoid strategic competition or further conflict.
Regular high-level exchanges in recent years have allowed them to overcome much of the mutual suspicion arising from the border war in 1962.
Economic links that languished for decades after the war are now booming. Two-way trade last year soared 37.5 percent to $18.7 billion, according to Chinese government figures. Trade this year is expected to easily surpass the $20 billion mark, a target both governments have set for 2008.
Both sides have made concessions - some discreetly - so that territorial disagreements do not dominate the relationship.
Indian analysts said the opening of the crossing sealed Beijing's acceptance of the tiny, remote region of Sikkim - nestled between Nepal and the kingdom of Bhutan, high in the Himalayas - as an Indian state.
The dispute over this once-independent principality, which was annexed by India in 1975 and subsequently claimed by China, represented a thorn in bilateral relations until last year, when Beijing finally recognized the Indian annexation as part of talks to improve relations between the two countries.
"I am very happy," the chief minister of Sikkim, Pawan Kumar Chamling, told local media, adding that he hoped it would be a watershed in relations between the two countries. "My long- cherished dream is being fulfilled."
Muchkund Dubey, an academic specializing in Southeast Asian studies and a former foreign secretary of India, said the opening was an important step forward in relations between the two countries despite the continued presence of other areas of tension. "Sikkim was a symbol of war," he said. "With the opening of this pass, China now recognizes the state of Sikkim as part of India.
"There are still unresolved problems. There is an ongoing border question and India remains concerned about China's role in South Asia, as the most important source of military supply to the countries in the region, and the impact this has on the balance of power."
New Delhi, for its part, has officially recognized Chinese sovereignty over Tibet, despite continuing to be host to the Dalai Lama.
Brahma Chellaney, professor of strategic studies with the Center for Policy Research, in New Delhi, said that the trade route would strengthen the Chinese hold on Tibet.
"This is the route that the Dalai Lama took when he fled from Tibet in 1959," he said. "The date of the opening of the pass was fixed by the Chinese, and it's no coincidence that this is happening on 71st birthday of the Dalai Lama."
Official exchanges between the two sides have been warming steadily. Prime Minister Wen Jiabao of China told a visiting Indian parliamentary delegation Tuesday that Beijing wanted the two countries to share growth and prosperity, the official Xinhua press agency reported. "Only if we two countries become strong can we talk about the era of Asia and can we contribute to human progress," Wen was quoted as saying.
A spokesman for the Ministry of External Affairs in India said: "It is a very important development given the history of relations between the two countries. It is in keeping with the steady development of Indo-Chinese relations and is a reflection of the determination of both countries to improve their relationship."
Nathu-la is about 460 kilometers from the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, and 550 kilometers from Calcutta.
The pass, which once accounted for up to 80 percent of commerce between the two countries, is unlikely to have an immediate impact on the overall trading relationship.
Under agreements reached between the two governments in the early 1990s, border trade is restricted to areas close to the agreed crossing points.
Trade in markets on each side of the border at Nathu-la are also restricted to 29 items from India, including textiles, agricultural tools, liquor, tobacco, cooking oil and rice. From China, traders can sell 15 items, including livestock, wool, animal skins and silk.
Amelia Gentleman reported from New Delhi.
Unquote
Such things do not come about unless there is sufficient self confidence and mutual trust betwee the two sides.</b>