Vajpayee's China trip under US scanner

Will economic cooperation bring the wary Asian neighbours closer to overcoming their decades-old differences and is China's interest in improving relations with India the result of the recent strengthening of US-India ties - these are some of the questions posed by analysts here.

There are doubts on how close the two could move towards normal political relations, which have been dogged by India's accusations of Chinese overt or covert help to Pakistan's nuclear and missile capability and Chinese apprehensions about India's shelter to the Dalai Lama and 120,000 exiles from Tibet.

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Michael Krepon of the Henry L Stimson Centre, a Washington-DC based think tank, told the media: "India and China still do not have normal relations. They have not settled on their international border, and they do not talk substantively about nuclear and missile matters. I hope that the Vajpayee visit can impart added momentum toward normalisation in these two key areas."

Vajpayee is visiting China from Sunday to Friday.

Dennis Kux of the Woodrow Wilson Centre and a scholar on South Asia said: "Vajpayee's visit is a part of a long-term effort under way to mend fences between Asia's two largest countries. In the past decade, the two sides have exchanged high level visits, haveT seen a significant rise in bilateral trade, and have gradually improved political relations."

He said the visit is "another significant step in this process. While India and China have made little progress in settling their dispute over their frontiers, which triggered the border war in October-November 1962, they have largely put this to one side and proceeded in improving other facets of their relationship.