Wen may focus on defence ties

BEIJING: No holds barred — that will be the contours talks are expected to take between Indian leaders and Chinese premier Wen Jiabao this week and cover all controversial issues like stapled visas, a proposed dam on the Chinese side of Brahmaputra river and India’s case for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), a Chinese minister said on Monday.

China’s assistant foreign minister Hu Zhengyue on Monday gave no indication of Beijing’s unhappiness over India’s decision to attend the Nobel peace prize ceremony at Oslo for Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, despite its repeated requests to abstain. The signal from Beijing is that the matter would not come in the way of smooth talks during Wen’s three-day visit to India from December 15.

Beijing, which resumed military ties with the United States last week, is now expected to discuss the matter with India. New Delhi cut off military ties with Beijing after a senior general stationed in Jammu & Kashmir was refused a regular visa.

Hu confirmed that the issue of stapled visa would be discussed during Wen’s visit . But he gave out nothing to raise hopes among Indian officials , who have begun to suggest that China will finally give up its policy on stapled visa.
He said China maintained an independent relationship with India, which has nothing to do with New Delhi’s relations with Washington. The statement is significant as it comes within days of Beijing resuming its military ties with the United States, which had been cut off earlier this year after Washington agreed to supply additional weapons to Taiwan.

‘‘ We will not exclude the possibility of discussions on any issue,’’ Hu said ahead of Wen’s three-day visit to India from December 15.

Hu stuck to China’s earlier stand that it wanted India to play a bigger role in international arena including the United Nations. But he would not clarify whether Beijing was in a mood to actually support India’s case for a permanent seat in the UNSC.

‘‘ Our discussions will touch upon this matter. It is not for the first time it has come up in our discussions. Our two countries have exchanged views on many occasions and publicized documents ,’’ he said. This is obviously a bargaining point, which Chinese leaders would not give up until they are assured that the UNSC seat for India would not affect Beijing’s interests.