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CONFIDENTIAL
8. The Sino-Indian border dispute and China's support
for Pakistan remain obstacles to better Sino-Indian
relations. The border dispute stems from an agreement
reached between British India and Tibet (the McMahon
line) in 1914. China rejected the agreement at the time
and the dispute culminated in widespread armed clashes in
1962. Seven rounds of talks on the border dispute have
since taken place, the last in July 1986, though little
progress has been made. Tension increased in December
1986 with China protesting vigorously at the granting of
full statehood within the Indian Union to Arunachal
Pradesh, which includes the disputed area.
Troop
deployments and minor incidents followed on both sides.
9.
China took up her seat at the UN in 1971, and is a
Permanent member of the Security Council. She has
hitherto adopted a fairly low profile, and still presents
herself as a spokesman for the Third World, though less
stridently than in the Maoist era.
10. The Chinese take frequent opportunities to restate
forcefully their position on disarmament, placing the
main responsibility for reductions in nuclear and
They pay
conventional forces on the two superpowers.
increasing attention to multilateral disarmament
(chemical weapons in particular) at the Conference on
FC6AAK
CONFIDENTIAL