India and China Made Agreement on Border Talks Mechanism

India and China reached an in principle agreement on April 13, 2011 for setting up working mechanism for consultations and coordination on border affairs to maintain peace along the boundaries of the two countries. This is an extra body to monitor India’s 1993 and 1996 border peace agreements with China. It mainly aimed at curbing military misadventures. The agreement was made to tackle controversies relating to frequent troop incursions from China into the Indian borders that hampered the Indo-China ties. Till now the special representatives of India and China have held 18 rounds of negotiations between them on the border disputes.

The initiatives taken at the BRICS Summit hold that the earlier mechanism looked at the boarder issue from the strategic standpoint. It did not do justice to the repeated relationship problems between India and China. According to the agreement, the new mechanism on the boarder disputes will take care of the issues concerning the border trade and the movement of troops on the borders. The mechanism was at the official level, but if the military will have a role to pay in this mechanism that covers their operations on the border was not defined clearly.

China to review stapled visas

On April 13, 2011 China assured that it would review its system of giving stapled visas to subjects of Jammu & Kashmir. However, no formal commitment has been made in the meeting. Still India is heartened by China’s decision to give normal stamped visas to the four journalists born in Jammu & Kashmir. These journalists accompanied the Indian Prime Minister in the BRICS Summit in China. India in return showed its generosity by lifting the deadlock on defence exchanges that India had imposed in 2010, after Beijing refused a visa to an Indian general posted in Jammu & Kashmir.

What is a stapled visa?

Stapled visas are the visas for a visiting country that are issued on a separate paper rather than issued on the passport. Generally, the immigration officers do not stamp the passport if anybody is carrying a stapled visa.