NEW DELHI -- It seems absurd that almost 53 years after India became a free country that it should remain without recognized borders with its most powerful neighbor, China.
Although the Chinese foreign minister, Tang Jiaxuan, said recently that he was confident of solving the problem, 11 rounds of discussions between New Delhi and Beijing since 1989 have been more or less in vain.
India alleges that China is illegally occupying an area a little over 43,000 sq. km in Kashmir. This includes about 5,000 sq. km unlawfully ceded to Beijing under a Sino-Pakistani pact of 1963. On the other hand, China charges India with holding 90,000 sq. km of Dragon territory.