National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and China’s Minister of Foreign Affairs will hold the 23rd meeting of the Special Representatives (SRs) in Beijing on December 18.
During the meeting, the two Special Representatives will discuss the management of peace and tranquility in the border areas and explore a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to the boundary question, according to Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) press release.
In a press release, MEA said, “Shri Ajit Doval, National Security Advisor and India’s Special Representative (SR) on the India-China boundary question, will hold the 23rd meeting of the SRs in Beijing on 18 December 2024 with his Chinese counterpart H.E. Mr. Wang Yi, Member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs of China.”
“As agreed during the meeting of the two leaders in Kazan on 23 October 2024, the two SRs will discuss the management of peace & tranquility in the border areas and explore a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to the boundary question,” it added.
The meeting between NSA Doval and Wang Yi has been scheduled after New Delhi and Beijing in October reached an agreement regarding patrolling arrangements along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the India-China border areas.
The border standoff between India and China began in eastern Ladakh along the LAC in 2020, and was sparked by Chinese military actions. It led to prolonged tensions between the two nations, significantly straining their relations.
The 22nd meeting of the Special Representatives of India and China was held in New Delhi on December 21, 2019. The Indian side was led by NSA Ajit Doval while Wang Yi led the Chinese delegation, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
On December 3, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that India remains “committed to engaging with China through bilateral discussions to arrive at a fair, resonable and mutually acceptable framework for a boundary settlement.”
He said that in his recent meeting with Chinese Foreign minister Wang Yi, an understanding was reached that the Special Representatives and the Foreign Secretary level mechanisms will be convening soon.
Briefing the Lok Sabha on India-China ties as well as disengagement at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), Jaishakar said that bilateral ties between the two countries have been “abnormal” since 2020 when “peace and tranquillity in the border areas were disturbed as a result of Chinese actions.”
“Recent developments that reflect our continuous diplomatic engagement since then have set our ties in the direction of some improvement,” he said. In his speech in Lok Sabha, he shared with members of the expectation regarding direction of ties with China in the near future.
“Our relationship had progressed in many domains, but was obviously negatively affected by recent events. We are clear that the maintenance of peace and tranquility in border areas is a pre-requisite for the development of our ties. In the coming days, we will be discussing both de-escalation as well as effective management of our activities in the border areas,” Jaishankar said.
The External Affairs Minister said that “the conclusion of the disengagement phase now allows us to consider other aspects of our bilateral engagement in a calibrated manner, keeping our national security interests first and foremost.”
