India and China are trying to find a solution to the issue of China’s policy of issuing stapled visas to people from Arunachal Pradesh, a senior official of the Ministry of External Affairs said here today.

Taking part in an interaction on “PM’s visit to China” at Observer Research Foundation here on Thursday, the Joint Secretary (East Asia), Gautam Bambawale, who had accompanied the PM’s team, said the issue was taken by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with the Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang during their talks.

He said the Prime Ministers have tasked their officials to work out a solution. “We are already on it. Let us see,” he added.

Declining to comment on China’s reaction to India raising of the strike force, Gautam Bambawale clarified that the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement (BDCA) doesn’t stipulate any clause which put any freeze on infrastructure development on either side.

India plans to deploy 50,000 additional troops along its north-eastern border with China at a cost of around Rs 65,000 crore. The 17 Corps is the latest in the Army’s formation and 14th of such corp. It will be initially based at Ranchi in Jharkhand and after development of infrastructure, will be moved to Panagarh in West Bengal. This will be the first corps with strike elements to be deployed close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

A proposal has been mooted by India to have hotlines at the commander’s level with China. He said India has conveyed that the hotlines at the Director of Military Operation (DGMO) level have worked well. The problem, he said is that there is a striking difference between India and China. Unlike India, China doesn’t have a post of DGMO. India is pressing China that hotlines should be set up soon.

Regarding staple visas issued by China, Bambawale said “there is a need to find a practical solution to the problem soon as many sportsmen, including two archers from Arunachal Pradesh were not able to participate in sports events in China which increasingly organises such events.”

He said to find a solution, both the countries need to sort out the basic issue – that is, China claims Arunachal to be a part of it and India as an integral part of the country.

Following recurring incidents of issue of stapled visas to people of Arunachal Pradesh, India has withheld signing of visa agreement with China. However, the Joint Secretary declined to comment on the issue but said that a final call on the visa agreement would be left for the new government to take.

About trans-border rivers, Bambawale said that important progress has been made and so far the two countries have been exchanging hydrological data and it has now become more intense.

He said that the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement (BDCA) between India and China is “not a magic wand” for resolving the vexed border issue but can “contribute towards maintaining peace and tranquility on the border.”

With the two big neighbouring countries of Asia having a border of about 4,000 kms yet to resolve the border dispute, Bambewala said the BDCA does not place any restrictions on either side and what is of significance is that the lead negotiator was the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) of China and it was signed by Lt Gen Sun Jianguo who is Deputy Chief of General Staff.

What is indeed of importance in the agreement in the wake of the recent border incidents between the two countries is Article six of the BDCA which states that “the two sides agree that they shall not follow or tail patrols of the other side in areas where there is no common understanding of the line of actual control in the India-China border areas.”

Describing the protocols and welcome accorded to the PM as top class, he noted that Manmohan Singh met not only his counterpart and the President Xi Jinping but also the Number Three in the politburo who is also the chairman of the people’s congress, Zhang Dejiang. He also spent quality time with the former Prime Minister, he said.

Answering questions, Bambawale said Afghanistan did figure in the PM’s talks with his counterpart as well as the President. “Everyone who is a neighbour of Afghanistan is worried about what is going to happen as we move towards 2014 and the withdrawal of the US forces from there,” he said.

“We have established very detailed discussion with China on how we can work together as we approach 2014. We will continue with discussing with China,” he said.

He said regional issues, including Korean peninsula, were also discussed during the visit and other interactions at various levels. However, neither Tibet, nor Nepal or Bhutan was discussed. Chinese premier just hoped in his prepared speech that India sticks to its position on Tibet, he said.

According to him, there was also no discussion on South China Sea situation. Regarding oil blocks offered by Vietnam, he said India looks at these purely from the economic and commercial angles with no political overtones or political implications.

Regarding the visit of Japanese Emperor and Express to India (Nov 30-5 Dec), Bambawale denied that it has anything to do with “balancing”. “We are not in the game of catching up,” he remarked.