Minor border issues shouldn't block India-China growth: Alok Bansal

As the government prepares to welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping to India, security expert Alok Bansal said Wednesday that minor issues at the border must not distract both nations from pursuing a path of growth and prosperity.

Bansal also said that huge Chinese investment and technology will propel India to a different level of economic development.

"We must not let such minor issues to distract us from coming together and pursuing a path of growth and prosperity because huge Chinese investment and technology will usher India into a different state of economic development," Bansal told ANI here.

Stressing that minor incidents happen on the India-China border because China and India have different interpretations of where the Line of Actual Control lies, he said, "not only do we have different claims on the territory we also have different perceptions as far as Line of Actual control is concerned".

"Under the circumstances such incidents are bound to occur, however both the countries have evolved a protocol for dealing with such issues and we adhere to these protocols very rigidly," he added.

Commenting on the intrusion of Chinese civilians who were reportedly stopping Indian workers from constructing a water irrigation channel in Demchok in Leh, Bansal said, "This sort of incident appears to me as an attempt to blow up minor issues which have been happening consistently for last few decades".

Chinese President Xi Jinping will arrive in Ahmadabad on Wednesday for a three-day India visit. During his visit the focus will be on trade and investment, besides addressing the border issue that has seen occasional flare ups between the two countries.