New Delhi: The situations at the border between India and China could have been avoided if we had a commonly delineated Line of Actual Control and a common perception about it, Government told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
In a written reply to a question on the issue of Chinese incursions, Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj said that "from time to time on account of differences in the perception of the LAC, situations have arisen on the ground that could have been avoided if we had a common perception of the LAC."
She said government regularly takes up any transgression along the LAC with China through established mechanisms including border personnel meetings, flag meetings, meetings of working mechanism for consultation and coordination on India-China border affairs and diplomatic channels.
"There is no commonly delineated Line of Actual Control in the border areas between India and China,"Swaraj said.
On the progress of dialogue with China on the issue, she said that till date there have been 17 meetings of Special Representatives (SR) of the two countries with the last one held in New Delhi on February 10-11 this year.
"In addition, regular meetings of WMCC are held last one being held on October 16-17, 2014 in New Delhi," she said.
The minister said that in January 2012, an agreement on the establishment of Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on India-China border affairs was signed during the 15th round of SR talks.
Swaraj said the two sides (India and China) agree that peace and tranquility on the border is the basis for continued expansion of India-China relations.
In reply to another question on talks between India and China, Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh said regular meetings between India and China have been held at various levels, including at the highest level.
"During these meetings, the entire gamut of bilateral, regional and global issues are discussed. Both sides have emphasized several times their policy of attaching priority to the development of good-neighbourly and friendly bilateral relations and are committed to resolving bilateral issues through dialogues and peaceful negotiations and in a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptabale manner," he said.
In reply to a separate question on whether China was still using stapled visa for Indian residents of Jammu and Kashmir, Singh said that in recent months, no such instance has been brought to the notice of the government.
"Government's position that there should be no discrimination against visa applicants of Indian nationality on grounds of domicile and ethnicity has been clearly conveyed to the Chinese government on several occasions including at the highest level," he said.
