Ex-Chinese diplomat proposes land exchange deal with India to solve border dispute

China's former diplomat and border negotiator has suggested that India must willingly cede the Tawang region in Arunachal Pradesh and China will reciprocate by giving up its claim over Aksai Chin to solve the border dispute between both countries.

The solution to the border dispute between Indian and China was put forward by Dai Bingguo, who has represented China in 15 rounds of talks until his retirement in 2013, in an interview to the Beijing-based China-India Dialogue magazine.

Justifying China's claim on Tawang, Dai asserted that the disputed territory in the eastern sector of the China-India boundary, including the Tawang region is an integral part of the Southern Tibet region and is alienable from China's Tibet in terms of cultural background and administrative jurisdiction.

He said that China's claim over the disputed region along the eastern sector of the China-India boundary was even recognized by the British colonizers, who drew the McMahon Line.

Dai said China will respond and address India's concerns elsewhere if New Delhi addresses Beijing's concerns in the eastern sector.

The disputed Aksai Chin is located in China's Xinjiang province, which is apparently China's only Muslim dominated province.

Both Asian giants even fought a war in 1962 over the Aksai Chin region, over which China took complete control after claiming victory in the war.

Dai noted that India holds the key in solving this issue as the two countries stand in front of the gate towards a final settlement.

The Aksai Chin, is claimed by India as part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir and region of Ladakh but is controlled and administered as part of the Chinese autonomous region of Xinjiang.

The other large disputed territory, the easternmost, lies south of the McMahon Line.

It was formerly referred to as the North East Frontier Agency, and is now called Arunachal Pradesh.

The McMahon Line, extends for 550 miles (890 km) from Bhutan in the west to 160 miles (260 km) east of the great bend of the Brahmaputra River in the east, largely along the crest of the Himalayas.

It was part of the 1914 Simla Convention between British India and Tibet, an agreement rejected by China.