New Delhi [India], September 12 (ANI): Congress MP Manish Tewari on Saturday said India and China need to make a concerted and pragmatic efforts to resolve their territorial dispute along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), stressing that settling the border issue is imperative for the two countries to move forward in their relationship.
Tewari said China has land boundaries with 12 countries and has settled boundary questions with 10 of them, while the process of resolving the boundary issue with Bhutan is underway.
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in New Delhi today to attend the 18th BRICS Summit. He is also scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi later in the day.
Speaking to ANI, Tewari said, “China has land boundaries with 12 countries; they have settled the land boundary question with 10 of them, at times, at almost 1/3rd of what their initial territorial ask was. The process of trying to settle the boundary with Bhutan is very much underway. That only leaves India; therefore, the question that both China and India need to ask themselves, as two of the leading powers in Asia, is what it will really take for both of them to resolve the territorial disputes on the Line of Actual Control. The Special Representatives process, unfortunately, has not been making headway.”
He said that if India and China want to move forward in their relationship and believe they have a greater role to play in global affairs.
“Even the recent one, which was held in Beijing, the statement contains a reference to the fact that even the terms of reference as to how to settle the border dispute have not really been decided. So, if India and China both want to move forward with their relationship and they do feel that they have a greater role to play in global affairs, then it is imperative that the border dispute needs to be settled and both countries will have to make a very concerted and pragmatic attempt to do so,” he further said.
Tewari said the grouping has come a long way since its first summit in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in 2009.
He questioned whether the expanded BRICS grouping could still be described as representing the Global South, citing the economic strength of China, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
“…Between its first Summit in Yekaterinburg in 2009 in Russia and the 18th Summit now being held in Delhi, BRICS has indeed come a long way. In its expanded form, it does not really represent the Global South. Can you call China really Global South, given the fact that they are a 20 trillion dollar economy and has a lead on almost all the frontier technologies of the industrial revolution? Would you classify Saudi Arabia as Global South or UAE as Global South?” Tewari said.
“But importantly, BRICS seems to have become a platform where, based upon issues, there have been convergences, and there are a lot of countries which do feel that there needs to be reforms in the international financial system, in the institutions of global governance; in addition to that, even with regard to guardrails for the frontier technologies of the fourth industrial revolution. So, it has become more of an issue-based coalition, which is not really a bad thing, given the fact that the world is in turmoil,” he further said.
India is hosting the 18th BRICS Summit under its 2026 Chairmanship on September 12-13. India’s Chairmanship is guided by the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”, with development, sustainability and innovation forming key areas of focus. (ANI)
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