India-China Border Talks: A Test for Bilateral Ties Ahead of Xi’s Expected Visit
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Doval-Wang talks are set to take place in Beijing as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar reiterates that peace and tranquillity along the border are a prerequisite for good relations with China.
By Sakshi
New Delhi, August 23: National Security Advisor Ajit Doval is set to arrive in Beijing on Monday for the 25th round of the India-China Special Representatives talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The two are expected to discuss the long-pending boundary issue as concerns over Chinese activities near the border intensify.
Both Doval and Wang are the designated Special Representatives for the boundary talks mechanism, which was established in 2003 to comprehensively address the vexed boundary dispute along the 3,488-km India-China border. The Special Representatives' talks are learnt to be scheduled for Tuesday, news agency PTI reported, quoting sources.
While the mechanism has not succeeded in resolving the boundary dispute, officials on both sides regard the structured dialogue as a useful tool for addressing recurring tensions between the two countries on various fronts.
The upcoming talks assume significance as they are being held ahead of the much-anticipated visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to India to attend the BRICS summit in New Delhi on September 12-13.
Will China Minister Meet PM Modi?
While there is no official confirmation about Xi's visit, officials on both sides are optimistic about the Chinese leader's participation. His visit could provide an opportunity for a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the summit to discuss initiatives aimed at taking bilateral ties forward.
The two leaders last met in August last year on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin.
Ahead of the Doval-Wang talks in Beijing, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday reiterated that peace and tranquillity along the border areas are a prerequisite for good relations with China.
His comments came amid reports of aggressive posturing by Chinese troops in Arunachal Pradesh's Upper Subansiri region in recent weeks.
"I think we went through a particularly bad patch between the summer of 2020 and the autumn of 2024, and that was primarily an outcome of the situation in the border areas," Jaishankar said at the Economic Times World Leaders Forum in New Delhi on Saturday.
"At the end of the day, peace and tranquillity in the border areas is a prerequisite for good relations, and the state of the border, to a very large measure, naturally would determine the state of the relations," he said.
On reports of stepped-up Chinese military activity near the Arunachal Pradesh border, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on August 12 that the China-India border situation is "generally stable at the moment".
China and India held the 36th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on China-India Border Affairs, Guo said.
"The two sides agreed to maintain communication via diplomatic and military channels and jointly uphold peace and tranquillity in the border areas," he said.
India's seriousness towards the LAC
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on August 11 said that India considers matters relating to the border areas with China as "most serious". He asserted that maintaining peace and tranquillity along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) is of "utmost importance", as the state of the frontier will govern the overall trajectory of bilateral ties.
Earlier, New Delhi also rejected Beijing's criticism of its decision to formally identify 27 places and geographical features in Arunachal Pradesh by their standard names. India emphasised that the state is an "inalienable and integral" part of the country and that nothing can change this "indisputable reality".
China, which claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of South Tibet, has been releasing its own set of names for the region since 2017. India termed the Chinese move "vain and preposterous", asserting that such actions will not alter the "undeniable" reality that the state "was, is, and will" always remain an integral part of India.
