Dear Editor,
While it is heartening to see that Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are eager to resolve the boundary dispute, one is largely sceptical about the outcome, given the complex nature of the dispute that has been allowed to hang fire by both the sides on account of political, domestic and strategic considerations. Both leaders are known to being firm and decisive, which might make it possible to arrive at a mutually acceptable solution. The attempt must be to arrive at a genuine “negotiation” than merely talking. The word “negotiation” involves a certain amount of flexibility. We must also recognise the fact that in our own official maps (up to March 1948), a long stretch of territory in the northeastern part of Ladakh was shown as “boundary undefined.”
Bhola Nath
Bari Brahmnan
