India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi before their scheduled meeting in Beijing on Wednesday (December 18, 2024).
| Photo Credit: PTI

India and China “positively affirmed” the outcome of their disengagement agreement at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), as National Security Advisor Ajit Doval met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing on Wednesday for the first boundary talks between the Special Representatives (SR) since 2019.

During the talks, Mr. Doval and Mr. Wang said that it was important to “draw from the lessons” of the four-year long military standoff at the LAC, in order to maintain peace and tranquillity at the boundary. They also discussed other ties that were derailed due to the frictions at the boundary, providing “positive directions” for cross-border exchanges, including the resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage from India to Tibet, data sharing on trans-border rivers, and border trade. 

A statement issued by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Mr. Doval and Mr. Wang had held “substantive discussions” during the Special Representatives dialogue and reached a “six-point consensus”, that would see efforts to maintain peace at the borders and develop bilateral relations. While the Ministry of External Affairs did not refer to a “six-point” consensus, it reiterated most of the same points on promoting exchanges.

“The two sides reaffirmed their commitment to continue seeking a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable package solution to the boundary issue in accordance with the political guidelines agreed upon by the special representatives of the two countries on resolving the boundary issue in 2005,” the Chinese MFA statement, one of two issued about the SR meeting, said.

Significantly, the SRs did not refer to the resumption of direct flights and the restoration of journalist exchanges, which had both been discussed when Mr. Wang met External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in Rio de Janeiro last month. However, after a meeting between Mr. Doval and Chinese Vice President Han Zheng in Beijing, an official readout stressed the need to restore exchanges in “economic, cultural and trade” areas.

Maintaining peace

“This was the first meeting of the SRs since frictions had emerged in the Western Sector of the India-China border areas in 2020. The SRs positively affirmed the implementation of the latest disengagement agreement of October 2024, resulting in patrolling and grazing in relevant areas,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement issued after the meeting, referring to the disengagement verification process in Depsang and Demchok in eastern Ladakh.

“Drawing on the learnings from the events of 2020, they discussed various measures to maintain peace and tranquillity on the border and advance effective border management,” the MEA statement said, “underlining the importance” of peace and tranquillity at the LAC so that issues on the border do not hold back the “normal development of bilateral relations”.

Seeking boundary resolution

The resumption of the SRs process — started in 2003 to work on finding a satisfactory resolution to the decades-long India-China boundary dispute — marks a major step towards the resumption of diplomatic mechanisms that have been paused for the past few years. Mr. Doval had last met with Mr. Wang in Delhi in December 2019, just four months before the Chinese army amassed troops and transgressed along the LAC, leading to skirmishes with the Indian Army. This eventually led to the deadly Galwan clashes, the first time there had been casualties between the two armies in more than four decades.

After the October 21 agreement signalled an agreement to disengage at the last of seven friction points along the LAC, officials said that they would need to work next on de-escalation and de-induction of troops. The agreement had paved the way for the first formal talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kazan on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who had hailed the détente between Delhi and Beijing.

Mr. Doval and Mr. Wang, who had also met earlier this year in Moscow, were mandated to hold the SR meeting “at an early date” so as to “oversee the management of peace and tranquillity in border areas and to explore a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to the boundary question,” the statement said. Mr. Doval also invited Mr. Wang to visit New Delhi for the next round of SR talks.

‘Restore political trust’

Mr. Doval, who arrived in Beijing on Tuesday, also called on Chinese Vice President Han Zheng. According to a readout quoted by official agencies, Mr. Han said that as “ancient civilisations and emerging global powers”, India and China’s ties hold global influence and strategic significance. Both sides should “restore political trust and promote collaboration in economic, trade, and cultural areas, thus ensuring stable development in their bilateral relations,” he said.

According to the readout, Mr. Doval had responded, saying that the resumption of SR talks after a five-year hiatus was significant, and that India is committed “to strengthening strategic communication with China” and injecting new momentum into the relationship. The MEA, however, did not issue a readout on the NSA’s talks with the Chinese Vice President.

National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval shakes hands with Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi.
| Photo Credit: PTI

The Special Representatives of India and China on border issues will meet in Bejing on Wednesday to discuss the restoration of bilateral ties following the October 21 agreement to disengage troops in eastern Ladakh.

As agreed, Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs Wang Yi and India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval will hold the 23rd meeting of Special Representatives for the China-India Boundary Question in Beijing on December 18, 2024, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian announced in Beijing on Monday (December 16, 2024).

Also Read | More debates on China and LAC agreement post-2020 than earlier: Jaishankar defends government against charges of secrecy

According to informed sources, Mr. Doval will arrive in Beijing on Tuesday (December 17, 2024) to attend the crucial talks, which were expected to provide a way forward for the two countries to normalise the relations.

Constituted in 2003 to comprehensively address the dispute of the India-China border spanning to 3488 kms, the SRs mechanism over the years met 22 times.

The SRs meeting would take place after a gap of five years. The last meeting was held in 2019. 

While success eluded it in resolving the boundary dispute, officials on both sides regard it as a very promising, useful and handy tool in addressing the recurring tensions between the two countries.

Except for trade, relations between the two countries were frozen since April 2020 when the Chinese moved large numbers of troops towards the Line of Actual Control (LAC), sparking one of the longest military standoffs between the two countries.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on October 21 said in Delhi that the agreement was finalised following negotiations over the past several weeks and that it would lead to a resolution of the issues that arose in 2020.

Subsequently, the Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed the agreement on October 22, 2024, saying “The two sides have reached resolutions on relevant matters, which China speaks highly of. Going forward, China will work with India to implement these resolutions”.

Also Read | PM Modi, President Xi welcome border pact, seek to rebuild ties

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Kazan on October 24, 2024 on the sidelines of the BRICS summit during which they endorsed the agreement on patrolling and disengagement along the LAC in eastern Ladakh. They instructed the Special Representatives for the boundary mechanism to meet to discuss further steps.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Mr. Yi met on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Brazil followed by the Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination on China-India Border Affairs (WMCC).