This upcoming meeting will take place after a hiatus of five years...
The Special Representatives of India and China on border matters are scheduled to meet in Beijing on Wednesday to discuss the restoration of bilateral relations after the October 21 agreement to disengage troops in eastern Ladakh.
As per the agreement, Wang Yi, Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, and India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval will convene for the 23rd meeting of Special Representatives (SRs) on the India-China Boundary Question in Beijing on December 18, 2024, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian announced on Monday, December 16, 2024.
According to sources, Mr. Doval will arrive in Beijing on Tuesday, December 17, 2024, to participate in the significant discussions, which are anticipated to chart a path forward for normalizing relations between the two nations.
The SRs mechanism, established in 2003 to comprehensively address the India-China border dispute spanning 3,488 kilometers, has held 22 meetings to date.
This upcoming meeting will take place after a hiatus of five years, with the last session held in 2019.
Although the mechanism has not achieved a resolution of the boundary dispute, officials on both sides consider it an effective and constructive platform for managing recurring tensions between the two countries.
Relations between India and China, aside from trade, have remained frozen since April 2020, when China deployed a large number of troops near the Line of Actual Control (LAC), leading to one of the longest military standoffs between the two nations.
On October 21, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri stated in Delhi that the agreement was finalised after weeks of negotiations and would help resolve issues that emerged in 2020.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry subsequently confirmed the agreement on October 22, 2024, noting, “Both sides have resolved relevant issues, which China appreciates. Moving forward, China will collaborate with India to implement these resolutions.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met on October 24, 2024, in Kazan on the sidelines of the BRICS summit, where they endorsed the agreement on disengagement and patrolling along the LAC in eastern Ladakh. They directed the Special Representatives to meet and discuss the next steps.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi also met on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Brazil. This was followed by discussions through the Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination on China-India Border Affairs (WMCC).
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