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| India-Pakistan |
| India and China resolve Sikkim dispute. |
| 2003-10-09 |
| EFL from Newsday several days ago. This ties in to the Burma development yesterday. China has taken the first step toward recognizing the Himalayan territory of Sikkim as a part of India, resolving a long-standing border dispute, an Indian Foreign Ministry official said Wednesday. Sikkim, located between Nepal and the kingdom of Bhutan, was an independent principality before it was annexed by India in 1975. China never recognized Sikkim as an Indian possession and has claimed part of the territory as its own. Border disagreements have long embittered relations between India and China, leading in 1962 to a brief war. India says China still holds 16,000 square miles of its territory in the Kashmir region, while Beijing lays claim to a wide swath of territory in India’s northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, which shares a 650-mile border with China’s Tibet region. During a visit to Beijing in June, Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee agreed with Chinese leaders to have high-level envoys settle territorial disputes and reopen trade between Tibet and Sikkim. I am having trouble tracking the Indo-chinese proxy battle. It seems to be a factor in India developing nukes to protect itself from Chinese invasion via Tibet. It looks like these two powers are engaged in a perpetual game of Risk. |
| Posted by:Superhose |
| #1 I guess it all depends on what "resolve" means: Notwithstanding removal of Sikkim as a separate country from its official website, China on Thursday declined to publicly recognise the fact that the Himalayan state is part of India, saying historical facts must be respected but hoped that the issue could be resolved "gradually". "On the question of Sikkim, this is an issue left over from history. On this issue, we must respect historical facts and at the same time take into account the present circumstances," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said. "We hope the Sikkim question will be gradually solved," Zhang told reporters when asked to comment that China has recognised Sikkim as part of India by removing it from the Foreign Ministry's website. "Gradually" to the Chinese means tens, if not hundreds of years. They tend to think long term. |
| Posted by: Steve 2003-10-9 2:46:44 PM |