Ajit Doval Holds High-Level Talks With Wang Yi, India-China Border Issue in Focus

Beijing: India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held crucial talks in Beijing on Wednesday under the Special Representatives (SR) mechanism, aimed at restoring peace along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and normalising bilateral ties frozen for over four years due to the military standoff in eastern Ladakh.  

The 23rd round of SR talks, held after a gap of five years, began at 10 am local time. This meeting follows the October 21 agreement for disengagement and resumption of patrolling in eastern Ladakh, a key step towards de-escalating tensions. The last round of SR talks was held in New Delhi in 2019.  

Doval arrived in Beijing on Tuesday to lead the Indian delegation for the high-stakes discussions. The agenda included managing peace and tranquillity along the LAC and exploring long-term solutions to the unresolved boundary issue.  

Optimism from China ahead of talks  

On the eve of the meeting, China expressed optimism, with its Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian stating that Beijing was ready to “settle differences with sincerity and good faith.” He said China and India should implement the "important understandings" reached between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping during their meeting in Kazan, Russia, on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in October.  

“China is ready to work with India to respect each other’s core interests, strengthen mutual trust through dialogue, and bring bilateral relations back on track,” Lin added.  

Recent diplomatic engagements  

The Doval-Wang talks are the latest in a series of high-level engagements aimed at easing tensions. The Modi-Xi meeting in October, their first in five years, was followed by a meeting between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Wang Yi at the G20 summit in Brazil. Additionally, both sides held discussions under the Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination on China-India Border Affairs (WMCC).  

Strained ties since Ladakh standoff  

Relations between the two neighbours soured following the military standoff in eastern Ladakh in May 2020, which escalated into a deadly clash at the Galwan Valley in June, claiming lives on both sides. Since then, ties have remained tense, with limited engagement beyond trade.  

The Indian government has maintained that resolving the LAC issue is critical for normalising relations. The two sides have been engaged in multiple rounds of military and diplomatic talks to find a resolution.  

Focus on border peace and boundary resolution  

The Ministry of External Affairs had earlier stated that the SRs would discuss measures to maintain peace in border areas and explore a fair and mutually acceptable solution to the boundary question. Both sides aim to build on the disengagement process initiated in October to ensure stability along the LAC.  

The outcome of the Doval-Wang meeting is seen as pivotal in determining the future trajectory of India-China relations, which have been at a historic low since the Ladakh standoff.

The face-off effectively ended following the completion of the disengagement process from the last two friction points of Demchok and Depsang under an agreement finalised on October 21.

The SRs' meeting is regarded as significant as it is the first structured engagement between the two countries to restore relations.

Constituted in 2003 to comprehensively address the vexed dispute of the India-China border spanning 3,488 km, the SRs mechanism over the years met 22 times.

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.

(With Inputs from PTI)