Incursion issue to be over before China visit: Salman Khurshid

ALMATY: Asserting that India was "not a pushover", External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid today said he was confident that the issue of Chinese incursion in Ladakh would be resolved before he visits Beijing on May 9.

Khurshid, who arrived here in the Kazakh capital for an international conference on Afghanisthan, said "We are not scared. We are not pushovers".

He was replying to a question on whether India was scared of China.

"I want to appeal to the press, this is far more important in the context of investments both sides have made in peace. The cost of things going out of sync was extremely great for both of us".

He said India had conveyed its concerns on the incursions in Ladakh to the Chinese leadership through their envoy in Delhi and the military leadership of the two countries have held two rounds of talks to resolve the issue "which have not given us any sense of satisfaction".

Sounding a word of caution, Khurshid said "I think the important thing is that both sides should know that this must remain an isolated incident. This should not spill over into a larger spectrum".

Khurshid said the India and China have "assiduosly and carefully" put in place a mechanism to resolve border issues.

"We have worked very carefully towards it. We have a sense of satisfaction that it is good, it is sustainable and that it is the best thinf we have. It should not be the only thing we have. I do not think we should, in a hurry, dismiss the value and expectation we have from this mechanism," he said.

Chinese troops had intruded 10 km deep inside Indian territory in Ladakh and set up a tented post there. Beijing has denied any incursion across the Line of Actual Control.

Insisting on talks through the existing mechanism, Khurshid said "this was not an issue where a foreign minister has to specially rush to Beijing".

"We have our normal contacts. Things can be resolved long before I get to China," he said.

Earlier, talking to reporters in Delhi, Khurshid had said that he would be visiting China on May 9.

Khurshid's trip comes ahead of the visit by newly-elected Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to India later next month, his first abroad after becoming Prime Minister last month.