India, China to hold talks in Beijing, border issues on agenda, confirms MEA

The Special Representatives meeting between Ajit Doval and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi will be held after a five year gap. The SR meeting last took place in 2019.

India and China, after a prolonged gap of five years, will hold the Special Representatives (SR) dialogue on border issues in Beijing on Wednesday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) confirmed in an announcement. India and China have been showing the zeal to improve ties in recent times. The MEA said that the two sides will discuss the management of peace and tranquility in the border regions and explore a “fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable” solution to the boundary question. 

The talks will be lead by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval for the Indian delegation with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. The last round of SR dialogue was held in New Delhi in December 2019. 

When will the SR dialogue be held? 

The 23rd meeting of the Special Representatives will be held on December 18 in Beijing, the MEA informed in a late night statement on Monday. 

“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 December 18 with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, Member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs of China,” it read.

India-China border issues 

The decision to revive the dialogue mechanism was taken at a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kazan on October 23, two days after India and China firmed up a pact for disengagement in Demchok and Depsang in eastern Ladakh.

The military standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh began in May 2020 and a deadly clash at the Galwan Valley in June that year resulted in a severe strain in ties between the two neighbours.

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

Two days after the pact was firmed up, Modi and Xi held talks on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit. 

(With inputs from PTI)