India minister hints Beijing visit may be axed amid China border dispute
Chinese troops' alleged incursion into territory claimed by India puts in doubt top-level trip
India's foreign minister hinted he could cancel a planned trip to Beijing if no progress was made in resolving a row over an alleged incursion by Chinese troops deep inside Indian-claimed territory.
The reported Chinese infiltration across the disputed Himalayan border has strained ties between the nuclear-armed neighbours whose relations have long been chequered by mutual suspicion, a legacy of a 1962 border war.
"I can't say we have satisfaction [from Beijing] at this stage," said foreign minister Salman Khurshid, who announced last week he would head to China on Wednesday to discuss the stand-off. Speaking to Indian television channels while travelling in Iran on an official visit, Khurshid said in news footage aired yesterday that New Delhi was "keeping channels of communications open".
The minister, who said both countries have an interest in not allowing the dispute to "destroy" long-term progress in ties, said his trip to Beijing was still on.
But he suggested he might reconsider his travel plans if there was no progress in resolving the dispute.
India has not "reached a stage where we need to review that decision [to visit Beijing]", said Khurshid, but added it would not be wise to use the word "certainty" in connection with his visit.
