- विज्ञापन -
Beijing: India’s National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval, arrived in Beijing on Tuesday for discussions with his Chinese counterpart and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. This meeting is part of the India-China Special Representatives’ talks scheduled for Wednesday, aimed at repairing bilateral relations that have been strained for over four years due to the military standoff in eastern Ladakh.
Doval will participate in the 23rd round of Special Representatives (SR) talks with Wang Yi, where they are expected to address various issues to restore ties following the disengagement agreement reached on October 21 regarding patrolling in eastern Ladakh.
Before the important discussions, China expressed its readiness to collaborate with India to uphold the commitments made during the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping on October 24 at the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian stated that China is prepared to sincerely resolve differences.
“China is ready to work with India to implement the important common understandings between the leaders of China and India, respect each other’s core interests and major concerns, strengthen mutual trust through dialogue and communication, properly settle differences with sincerity and good faith, and bring bilateral relations back to the track of stable and healthy development as soon as possible,” he said.
The External Affairs Ministry noted that, as agreed during the Kazan meeting, the two SRs will discuss maintaining peace and tranquility in border areas and seek a fair, reasonable, and mutually acceptable solution to the boundary issue.
Following the Modi-Xi meeting, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart met at the G20 summit in Brazil, followed by a meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on China-India Border Affairs (WMCC).
The military standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh began in May 2020, culminating in a deadly clash in the Galwan Valley in June, which severely strained relations between the two nations. Except for trade, relations have largely stagnated.
The standoff effectively concluded with the disengagement process completed at the last two friction points of Demchok and Depsang, under an agreement finalized on October 21.
Wednesday’s SR meeting is significant as it marks the first structured engagement between the two countries aimed at restoring relations after a five-year hiatus; the last meeting took place in Delhi in 2019.
Established in 2003 to address the complex India-China border dispute spanning 3,488 km, the SR mechanism has met 22 times over the years. Although it has not successfully resolved the boundary dispute, officials from both sides view it as a valuable tool for managing recurring tensions between the two countries.
