The Chinese prime minister’s visit was in no way intended to offer solution to the vexed issue of border incursion. Li came to pursue China’s national interest and not to enrich India-China bilateral ties.
If as the Chinese say that they wish to have ‘good neighborly’ relations with India, then what better way to start, at the very least, to agree to exchange maps and demarcate the LAC on the ground in all sectors.
North Korea’s uranium enrichment programme has made the US jittery and is not totally confident of reopening the six-party talks. Washington needs assurances regarding North Korea’s future nuclear programmes and the key to finding a solution to the present stalemate lies with Beijing.
The US has spent over a trillion and a half dollars and this huge expenditure has nearly unhinged its domestic economic equilibrium. At the strategic level the results for the US have been even more disconcerting in terms of Iraq's Shiite-led government refusing to let US troops stay on as well as extending support for fellow Shiites in Syria.
All that the western powers have achieved so far with regime change is to propel into powerful positions an assorted lot of Islamists as well as autocrats with medieval beliefs and a penchant for terrorism.
The Indian political class should seriously ponder without engaging in fruitless ideological debates – for we may be leaving ourselves with no choice – whether to acquiesce to a China-dominated commercial and economic landscape in Asia.
With China increasingly wary of the developments taking place on its Pacific seaboard, it would perhaps be in a much better frame of mind to listen to Indian concerns.
By first crossing the McMahon Line and then retreating north beyond the McMahon Line on the conclusion of hostilities, the Chinese only served to further reinforce the validity of the McMahon Line as the international frontier.
Tibet has always been the core issue in Sino-Indian relations. Even during the 1962 conflict, Chinese leaders, including Mao, acknowledged that the conflict was not about the boundary or territory but about Tibet. The revolt in Tibet leading to the flight of the Dalai Lama to India in 1959 came as a rude shock to the Indian leadership. After the 1962 conflict, the issue of Tibet went on the back burner. The revival of negotiations in 1981 brought the issue back into focus.
When Nehru wrote to Zhou that China either accept the McMahon Line alignment along the highest watershed or go by the strict coordinates as per the original McMahon map, the Chinese, realising the folly committed by their Premier, demurred.
Chinese Premier's Visit: Ambiguity prevails
The Chinese prime minister’s visit was in no way intended to offer solution to the vexed issue of border incursion. Li came to pursue China’s national interest and not to enrich India-China bilateral ties.