China ready to make concessions in Aksai Chin if India cedes part of Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh?

Beijing: A former Chinese diplomat has hinted that settlement of the India-China boundary dispute is possible if India agrees to make concessions in the eastern sector.

“The disputed territory in the eastern sector of the China-India boundary, including Tawang, is inalienable from China’s Tibet in terms of cultural background and administrative jurisdiction,” China's former pointsman for India Dai Bingguo has said in an interview to Beijing-based publication China-India Dialogue magazine.

Dai underlined that the major reason the boundary question persists is that China’s reasonable requests have not been met. “If the Indian side takes care of China’s concerns in the eastern sector of their border, the Chinese side will respond accordingly and address India’s concerns elsewhere.”

Notably, Dai Bingguo had been China's Special Representative in the more than 15 rounds of boundary talks between 2003 and his retirement in 2013.

It was not until February 1951 that "the local government of Tibet (was) forced to stop its actual administration of Tawang", he said, adding: "Even the British colonialists who drew the illegal 'McMahon Line' respected China's jurisdiction over Tawang.”

"There are disputes over the eastern, middle and western sectors of the China-India boundary. The biggest dispute involves the eastern section, which is vital to a fair, reasonable settlement of the boundary question."

"China and India are now standing in front of the gate towards a final settlement," Dai noted. "The gate is a framework solution based on meaningful and mutually accepted adjustments. Now, the Indian side holds the key to the gate."

In his interview, Dai said essential nature of the China-India boundary question is the "need to correct wrongs" made by colonialists and to restore fairness and justice.

"For historical reasons, India now controls the majority of the disputed territory. The boundary question was not created by China or India, so we shouldn`t be inheriting it and letting the ghosts of colonialism continue to haunt our bilateral relations," he said.

Dai was China's top diplomat and held the post of State Councillor in the previous Hu Jintao administration.

His interview was published by the magazine in its January edition ahead of India-China Strategic Dialogue held here last month co-chaired by Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar.

This is to be underlined that the picturesque Tawang district in Arunachal Pradesh bordering China is a very important place for India from both religious and strategic points of view. The Tawang monastery holds a special place in Tibetan Buddhism and is highly regarded by Buddhists in India as well.

For China, the area of Tawang is central to Tibetan Buddhism given that the sixth Dalai Lama was born there.