NSA Doval and Chinese VP meet in Beijing, discuss fostering political mutual trust

Beijing, Dec 18 (IANS) National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval met Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, in Beijing on Wednesday. 

Han said that China and India, as ancient oriental civilizations and emerging major powers, adhere to independence, solidarity and cooperation, which is of global influence and strategic significance.

Noting that next year will mark the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and India, Han said the two sides should implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, maintain the momentum of high-level exchanges, foster political mutual trust, and gradually resume institutional dialogue as well as exchanges and cooperation in such fields as economy, trade and culture, to bring bilateral relations back onto the track of stable development, Xinhua news agency reported.

NSA Doval said the resumption of the meeting between special representatives of both countries for the boundary question after an interval of five years is an important move to implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, and is of great significance for advancing bilateral relations.

According to Xinhua, NSA Doval stated that India is willing to strengthen strategic communication with China, expand mutually beneficial cooperation and inject new impetus into the development of bilateral relations.

Earlier in the day, India and China decided to give "positive directions" for cross-border cooperation and exchanges, including resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, data sharing on trans-border rivers and border trade, during the 23d meeting of the Special Representatives (SRs) of India and China which was attended by NSA Doval and Wang Yi, Member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and China's Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Wednesday's meeting in Beijing was the first between the Special Representatives since frictions had emerged in the Western Sector of the India-China border areas in 2020. The two representatives met in accordance with the decision taken during the recent meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kazan which had decided the future course of meetings to oversee the management of peace and tranquillity in border areas and to explore a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to the boundary question.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), 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.

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

It detailed that the SRs "positively affirmed" the implementation of the latest disengagement agreement of October 2024, resulting in patrolling and grazing in relevant areas.

"The SRs 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. They agreed on the salience of stable, predictable and amicable India-China relations for regional and global peace and prosperity," the statement added.

--IANS

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