In SR talks, India presses for fair and mutually acceptable settlement of border dispute with China

NEW DELHI: India on Wednesday pressed for a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable settlement of the border dispute with China as NSA Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held extensive talks focusing on "positive" direction for cross-border cooperation including resuming the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, river data sharing and border trade.

The Indian readout of the 23rd Special Representatives (SR) dialogue, however, did not mention a six-point consensus that was listed in a statement issued by the Chinese side at the end of the talks.

The two sides underlined the need to ensure peaceful conditions on the ground so that issues on the border do not hold back the normal development of bilateral relations, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

Doval and Wang agreed on the salience of "stable, predictable and amicable" India-China relations for regional and global peace and prosperity, it said.

The decision to revive the SR 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, effectively ending the over four-year border standoff in the region.

"The SRs reiterated the importance of maintaining a political perspective of the overall bilateral relationship while seeking a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable framework for settlement of the boundary question, and resolved to inject more vitality into this process," the MEA said.

The SR dialogue took place after a gap of five years. The last round of SR dialogue was held in New Delhi in December 2019.

While India's Special Representative for the dialogue is NSA Doval, the Chinese side is headed by Foreign Minister Wang, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China.

The MEA said Doval and Wang "positively" affirmed the implementation of the latest disengagement agreement of October resulting in patrolling and grazing in relevant areas.

It said both the SRs underlined the importance of maintaining peace and tranquillity in the border areas to promote overall development of the India-China bilateral relationship.

"They emphasised the need to ensure peaceful conditions on the ground so that issues on the border do not hold back the normal development of bilateral relations," it said.

"Drawing on the learnings from the events of 2020, they discussed various measures to maintain peace and tranquillity on the border and advance effective border management," it said.

"They decided to use, coordinate and guide the relevant diplomatic and military mechanisms towards this purpose," the MEA said.

It said Doval and Wang met in accordance with the decision taken during the recent meeting between Modi and Xi for them to meet at an early date to oversee the management of peace and tranquillity in border areas.

A Chinese readout said Doval and Wang reached a six-point consensus, including continuing to take measures to maintain peace at borders and promote healthy and stable development of relations.

"Both sides agreed to continue to take measures to maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas and promote the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations," it said. The Chinese statement said the two sides reaffirmed their commitment to continue seeking a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to the boundary issue in accordance with the political guidelines agreed upon by the special representatives of the two countries on resolving the boundary issue in 2005.

"The two sides assessed the border situation and agreed to further refine the management and control rules in the border area, strengthen the building of confidence-building measures, and achieve sustainable peace and tranquillity on the border," it said.

The Chinese readout further added that the two sides agreed to continue to strengthen cross-border exchanges and cooperation, and promote the resumption of Indian pilgrimage to Tibet, cross-border river cooperation and Nathula border trade.

It said it was agreed to hold a new round of special representatives' meetings in India next year.

According to the MEA, Doval and Wang exchanged views on bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest.

"They provided positive directions for cross-border cooperation and exchanges including resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, data sharing on trans-border rivers and border trade," the MEA said in the statement.

The NSA also met Han Zheng, the Vice President of China. Doval also invited Wang to visit India at a mutually convenient date to hold the next round of SR meeting.

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 in the Russian city of Kazan.

In the nearly 50-minute meeting, the two sides agreed to revive several dialogue mechanisms including the Special Representatives dialogue on boundary question.

India has been maintaining that its ties with China cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas.

Following completion of the disengagement process in Demchok and Depsang, Indian and Chinese militaries also resumed patrolling activities in the two areas after a gap of almost four-and-a-half years.