National Security Advisor Ajit Doval arrived in Beijing to participate in the India-China Special Representatives’ talks aimed at resuming bilateral relations, which had been stalled for over four years due to the military standoff in eastern Ladakh.
Doval is set to hold the 23rd round of the Special Representative (SR) talks with his Chinese counterpart and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The discussions are expected to focus on various issues to rebuild relations following the October 21 agreement on disengagement and patrolling in eastern Ladakh between the two nations.
China has expressed readiness to uphold the commitments made during the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping in Kazan, Russia, on October 24, on the sidelines of the BRICS summit.
“China is prepared to work with India to implement the important common understandings between our two leaders, strengthen mutual trust and confidence through dialogue, honor our commitments, and promote bilateral relations toward steady and sound growth,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian stated during a media briefing on the talks.
The Ministry of External Affairs noted that, as agreed during the Kazan meeting, the two SRs will discuss managing peace and stability in border areas and work toward a fair, reasonable, and mutually acceptable solution to the boundary issue.
Following the Modi-Xi meeting, which was their first in five years, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart also met on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Brazil, followed by a meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation & 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 at Galwan Valley in June of that year, severely damaging relations between the two countries.
Apart from trade, bilateral relations effectively came to a halt, but the situation began to improve following the completion of disengagement at the final two friction points in Demchok and Depsang, under an agreement finalized on October 21.
Wednesday’s SRs’ meeting is seen as crucial, marking the first structured engagement between India and China to restore their relations.
This SRs meeting comes after a gap of five years, with the last round held in 2019 in Delhi.
The SRs mechanism, established in 2003 to address the complex 3,488 km India-China border dispute, has met 22 times over the years. While it has not yet resolved the boundary issue, both sides view it as a valuable tool for managing recurring tensions.