NSA says India is willing to maintain fruitful communication in a pragmatic manner as the nation aims to continuously accumulate conditions for “final resolution”
Our Bureau
Beijing/New Delhi
In a major development for relations between Asia’s two biggest countries, the 23rd Meeting of the Special Representatives (SRs) of India and China, was held in Beijing on Wednesday, with discussions focussed on maintaining peace and tranquility along the border.
The meeting was attended by Ajit Doval, National Security Advisor (NSA) and Wang Yi, China’s Foreign Minister and Member of the CPC Central Committee. Doval also invited Wang Yi to visit India at a mutually convenient date to hold the next round of SR meeting.
“The 23d Meeting of the Special Representatives (SRs) of India and China, respectively Ajit Doval, National Security Advisor of India, and Wang Yi, Member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs, was held in Beijing on December 18, 2024,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a press release.
The MEA further said that the SRs met in accordance with the decision taken during the recent meeting between Prime Minister Modi and President Xi Jinping in Kazan for them to meet at an early date to oversee the management of peace and tranquility in border areas and to explore a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to the boundary question.
Doval on Wednesday highlighted India-China border issues and stated that New Delhi is willing to maintain fruitful communication with Beijing in a pragmatic manner adding that the nation aims to continuously accumulate conditions for “final resolution.”
“Over the past five years, with the joint efforts of both sides, relevant issues in the border area have been properly resolved, which is of great significance. India is willing to maintain fruitful communication with China in a pragmatic manner and continuously accumulate conditions for the final resolution of the border issue,” said Doval.
“The leaders of the two countries insisted on viewing China-India relations from a strategic height and long-term perspective calibrated by the navigation mark and clarified the direction for the restoration and development of China-India relations at a critical moment,” the statement added.
Reflecting on the past 70 years, China’s Foreign Minister highlighted that the most valuable lesson from the history of China-India relations is the adherence to the strategic direction set by the leaders
“As two major developing countries in the world, representatives of emerging economies and important members of the global South, the healthy and stable development of China-India relations is in line with the fundamental interests of more than 2.8 billion people in the two countries and in line with the historical trend of the outstanding growth of the global South,” he added.
Both sides reiterated that they would seek a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable package of solutions to the border issue in accordance with the political guiding principles reached in 2005.
The two sides also exchanged views on international and regional affairs of common concern and expressed their commitment to upholding multilateralism, safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of countries in the Global South, and promoting the development of the international order in a fair and reasonable direction.
Meanwhile, Chinese Ambassador to India, Xu Feihong on Wednesday said that China is ready to work with India and put into action the understandings between Indian and Chinese leaders. In a post on X, Ambassador Xu Feihong, “China is ready to work with India to implement the important common understandings between the leaders of China and India, 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.” Earlier, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar informed the Parliament, that the disengagement between India and China has been fully achieved in Eastern Ladakh through a step-by-step process, culminating in Depsang and Demchok. He also stressed that the maintenance of peace and tranquility in border areas is a prerequisite for the development of India-China ties.
