India on Tuesday emphasised that peace and tranquillity along the border with China are essential for the overall development of bilateral relations, as the special representatives of the two countries met in Beijing to discuss boundary delimitation and trans-boundary cooperation.
“I am happy [that] over the past year, our relationship has been steadily returning to normalcy. National security adviser Ajit Doval , India’s special representative, met his Chinese counterpart, foreign minister Wang Yi , for the 25th round of talks under the mechanism established in 2003 to work out a framework for resolving the dispute over the 3,488km border.
In a social media statement, the Indian embassy said the special representatives “positively reviewed” the momentum in bilateral ties, in line with directions from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and president Xi Jinping, and discussed ways to “make progress on boundary delimitation, while sustaining the ongoing work on transboundary cooperation”. The Indian side “highlighted the importance of maintaining peace and tranquillity in the India-China border areas for the continued development and progress of the bilateral relationship”, according to a readout from the external affairs ministry. The readout added that the special representatives had a “candid and in-depth” exchange on the boundary question and agreed to seek a political settlement in the “context of their overall and long-term interests”. A statement from China’s foreign ministry said both sides held “in-depth discussions on advancing border demarcation negotiations, strengthening border control, improving mechanisms, and promoting cross-border cooperation”. They reaffirmed their commitment to the political guiding principles finalised in 2005 and agreed to leverage the special representatives mechanism to seek a “fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable comprehensive solution” to the border issue. In his opening remarks, Doval described the talks as “very important”, as they were being held ahead of the Brics summit. The normalcy we have witnessed in our relationship has been a direct result of both sides maintaining peace and tranquillity in the border areas,” Doval said. Wang noted that institutionalised exchanges and cooperation are gradually resuming and both sides are “jointly committed to maintaining peace and tranquillity in the border areas”, China’s statement said. “Both sides should learn from historical experience, place the border issue in its proper place within bilateral relations, and move forward without stagnation, regression, or deviation…,” Wang said.
