"THE PIONEER - New Delhi - NOVEMBER 27, 1996

Management of the disputed Indo-China border will move "one step forward" during the visit to India of Chinese President Jiang Zemin, the first by a Chinese Head of State, beginning on Thursday. Briefing the media on the upcoming visit, Foreign Secretary Salman Haider said an agreement on confidence-building measures (CBMs) in the military field along the Line of Actual Control would be signed by the two countries during the visit.

This did not mean, however, there had been any progress in sorting out the contentious dispute over the border. "Border management will not prejudice border demarcation," Mr. Haider said.

On the other agreements to be signed during the three-day visit one on an Indian consulate general in Hongkong after it reverts to Chinese control in July; an agreement on crime and drug trafficking; one on investment protection, and an agreement strengthening shipping services. The economic agreements were being finalised, Mr. Haider said.

Mr. Haider said Mr. Jiang's visit had a dual purpose: to develop a cooperative partnership and to ensure a peaceful border.

Following the 1993 agreement on the Maintenance of Peace and Tranquility on the Border, the CBMs had worked to "give confidence" to both sides, Mr. Haider said. The focus would be to have mutually agreed troop reduction along the border, Mr. Haider added.

A Secretary level joint working group (JWG) on the border issue set up during Rajiv Gandhi's trip to China in 1988 had done "useful work", he said. A series of steps had been taken by the JWG which culminated in the important 1993 agreement.

Mr. Jiang will be accompanied by a high-level delegation, and will meet President S.D. Sharma, Vice-President K.R. Narayanan, Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, Lok Sabha speaker P.A. Sangma, external affairs Minister I.K. Gujral and leaders of major political parites such as SitaRam Kesri (Congress) and A.B. Vajpaiee (B.J.P.).

The Chinese President's delegation will include Foreign Minister Qian Qichen, Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, Mme. Wu Yi, Civil Affairs Minister Dorji Cering, and Tibetan Autonomous Region Chairman Gyancain Norbu.

Mr. Jiang Zemin will also interact with the Indian business community and he will tour the historic Taj Mahal at Agra.

Though Minstry officials would not speculate on the meaning of bringing along the Tibetan Governor, they said that India's stand on Tibet remained the same regardless of who was in the delegation.