Seema Guha

New Delhi: Foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee’s visit to China this week comes at an interesting time, ahead of the controversial Beijing Olympics. It is also the first high level visit to China after the crackdown in Tibet, underlying the fact that despite the recent hiccups, the engagement between the two Asian giants remains on track.

This is not all. On Saturday, the Indian air force took the first step to operationalise an airbase in Ladakh which overlooks the strategic Karakoram pass and is located 8km south of the Chinese border.

A few years ago this would have been seen as a sign of hostility but today, with a more mature relationship with a former foe, the visit will not be affected. After all the airstrip is in Indian territory and meant to service the forward posts.

The minister will be in China from June 4-7, at the invitation of his counterpart Yang Jiechi.

“The visit will be the first high-level political exchange between the two countries after the prime minister’s visit to China in January,” the foreign ministry statement said.

River water is sure to come up for discussion during the meeting and an agreement for exchange of data on Brahmaputra or the Sang Po as it is known in China is likely to be finalised.

Though Tibet is not in the agenda for talks, it is likely to come up during Mukherjee’s discussions with Yang Jiechi. The fact that Tibet’s spiritual leader Dalai Lama is based here and the majority of the Tibetans in exile are in India, makes it an important and sensitive issue for both countries.

While in Beijing he will honour professor Ji, the 97-year-old scholar who had specialised in Sanskrit and translated the Ramayana and other Indian works to Chinese.

Trade and investment will be high on the agenda. With two way trade between the India and China doing so well the revised estimate now is to make it $60 billion by 2010.

Source : DNA