NSA menon to visit Beijing next week

On the eve of power transition in China, national security advisor (NSA) Shiv Shanker Menon is visiting Beijing next week to say goodbye to state councillor Dai Bingguo, his counterpart in Sino-India boundary talks since 2010, and possibly meet the upcoming leadership under Chinese Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping. Menon travels to China on December 3-4.

Government sources said the Indian NSA will not be holding the 16th round of special representative talks with state councillor Dai but reviewing the bilateral relations with an eye towards seeking Chinese investment in high technology and infrastructure in India.

It is timed to formally bid goodbye to the outgoing Hu Jintao administration and establish first contacts with incoming Xi Jinping administration. Menon’s meet with Jinping is on the cards, but is yet to be finalised. It is understood that after Xi takes over in March next year, defence minister A K Antony will be visiting China.

While Menon may raise the issue of trade imbalance between the two countries, the key reason for the visit is to chart the course for the future without any accidents. His visit comes after China and India were engaged in tit -for-tat diplomacy after Beijing started stamping visas with watermarks, showing Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin as its territory.