New
Delhi: China has expressed its support for India's bid for a permanent
seat in the United Nations' Security Council, even as the two countries have
upgraded their ties to the status of a "strategic and cooperative partnership."
The two countries have also agreed on a set of eleven political parameters
and Guiding Principles to resolve the boundary dispute. A
total of eleven agreements were signed and a report of the Joint Study Group
on trade and economic cooperation was also made public. As promised, China
has recognised "Sikkim state" as part of the "Republic of India"
and handed over a new, official map to India clearly showing Sikkim as part
of Indian territory. The
two countries have also arrived at an agreement on the "modalities"
to implement the confidence-building measures along the Line of Actual Control
(LAC) by enhancing contacts between the two militaries, along with other practical
measures designed to prevent escalation and face-offs. A
joint statement has said that India and China agreed that their relations
had now acquired a "global and strategic" character. "The leaders
of the two countries have, therefore, agreed to establish an India-China strategic
and cooperative partnership for peace and prosperity." The
two prime ministers have also agreed to appoint a joint task force to study
the feasibility of and the benefits that may flow from an India-China regional
trading arrangement while setting up a "financial dialogue mechanism"
to facilitate diversifying economic cooperation. The
"guiding principles" states that the two countries were seeking
a "political settlement" of the boundary question in the context
of their overall and long-term interests. "Neither side shall use or
threaten to use force against the other by any means," the agreement
said. "Both
sides should, in the spirit of mutual respect and mutual understanding, make
meaningful and mutually acceptable adjustments to their respective positions
on the boundary question, so as to arrive at a package settlement to the boundary
question. The boundary settlement must be final, covering all sectors of the
India-China boundary," it said. "In
reaching a boundary settlement, the two sides shall safeguard due interests
of their settled populations in the border areas," the accord said. The
two special representatives would now work to set up a framework for a settlement.
India
and China have also signed agreements on mutual assistance in customs matters,
and expansion of civil aviation links, amongst a host of others.
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