New Delhi: National security adviser Ajit Doval and Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi on Wednesday held "substantive discussions" during the special representatives dialogue on the India-China boundary issue in Beijing and reportedly reached a six-point consensus, including continuing to take measures to maintain peace at borders and promote healthy and stable development of relations. There was, however, no reference to this in India's statement, indicating that it was essentially a Chinese terminology.
According to Beijing, consensus includes "proper handling of border issues, seeking of a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable package solution to the boundary issue, refining of management and control rules in the border areas and promoting resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage to Tibet.
During their meeting, the first after a gap of five years, both sides "positively affirmed the implementation of the latest disengagement agreement of October, resulting in patrolling and grazing in relevant areas", according to a press release by the Chinese foreign ministry.
Both sides emphasised the importance of maintaining peace and tranquillity in the border areas so that issues on the border do not hold back the normal development of bilateral relations.
"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," New Delhi said in a statement.
Mr Wang, who is also the Chinese foreign minister and a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, held talks with Mr Doval during the 23rd meeting of the SRs of the two nations in Beijing on Wednesday.
Mr Doval also called on Chinese vice-president Han Zheng.
"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," the MEA said in a statement.
"They decided to use, coordinate and guide the relevant diplomatic and military mechanisms towards this purpose".
"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 MEA added.
Mr Doval and Mr Wang discussed the “management of peace and tranquillity in the border areas and explored a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to the boundary question”.
Beijing had stated hours before the meeting that “China is ready to work with India to implement the important common understandings between our leaders, respect each other's core interests and major concerns, strengthen mutual trust through dialogue and communication, properly settle differences with sincerity and good faith, and bring bilateral relations back to the track of stable and healthy development as soon as possible.”
It may be recalled that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first bilateral meeting in five years in October this year in Kazan, Russia, on the sidelines of the Brics Summit.
New Delhi later confirmed that "patrolling by Indian troops has commenced in both the Depsang and Demchok areas in the Ladakh sector on all points as per the recent pact between the two nations" made in October