Wen: In dilemma

New Delhi, April 8: A diplomatic tug-of-war is going on between India and China over the official status of Sikkim.

South Block wants China to state categorically that Sikkim is an integral part of India and wants this reflected in the proposed joint statement that Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is likely to issue with Manmohan Singh at the end of a four-day official visit, beginning tomorrow.

China, however, is reluctant to make this a part of the joint statement though it acknowledges Sikkim to be an integral part of India and has promised to reflect its new stand in the official maps likely to be out later this year.

?We would like to put the Sikkim issue behind us,? a senior foreign ministry official said. ?We want a categoric statement from China that it acknowledges Sikkim to be an integral part of India.?

China fears that an overnight acknowledgement may anger the hardliners in Beijing and elsewhere. It favours a gradual progress by first opening trade points at the Nathu-la border to indicate the shift in its position.

But Delhi wants no further delay or ambiguity because it has already acknowledged Tibet as an integral part of China.

Sikkim and a proposed agreement on ?the guiding principles and the political parameters? to help resolve the boundary issue are likely to be the two high points of Wen?s visit.

After a kick-off in Bangalore, the Chinese Premier reaches Delhi on Sunday evening to start political meetings from April 11 with President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Prime Minister Singh, foreign minister K. Natwar Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

Indicating the seriousness of a proposed agreement on the two issues, foreign secretary Shyam Saran and Chinese vice-foreign minister Wu Dawei will meet here tomorrow to hammer out whatever differences exist between the two sides.

The next day, Chinese ?special representative? Dai Bing Guo and his Indian counterpart, national security adviser M.K. Narayanan, will meet.

South Block officials pointed out that an understanding on the ?guiding principles and political parameters? would in itself be a big step though ?no swapping? of areas was expected at this stage to settle the boundary dispute.

?This will be the first step where the two countries come to an agreement on the framework under which they will try to resolve the boundary issue,? the senior official said.

The two sides are also trying to put in place a number of other confidence-building measures (CBMs), both military and civilian, to signal the growing depth in Sino-Indian relations.

These are aimed at carrying forward the agreement that both sides had signed in 1993 to maintain peace and tranquillity along the boundary and the military CBMs put in place in 1996 to sustain the calm along the borders.

In line with the perception that Wen?s visit will be a ?landmark? in transforming bilateral ties, both Delhi and Beijing are keen to stress on areas of ?complementarity? and work towards mutual benefit.

Wen is thus bringing along a large business delegation and will address the Joint Business Council meeting between the two countries.