India and China have been at loggerheads for nearly five years before a major disengagement that took place at the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh earlier this year.
The meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in October set the tone for improving ties between the two nations. During the meeting, the two leaders pledged to resume dialogue and find a solution for effective border management.
In this context, the meeting between Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval to be held on Wednesday would be an all-important one in terms of border management.
Yi and Doval would hold the 23rd meeting of Special Representatives for the China-India boundary question in Beijing on December 18. This meeting is important since it is the first one being held in the past five years. The last such meeting was held in New Delhi in December 2019, and since then, ties have frozen owing to tensions along the border that began in early 2020.
Momentum gains
Since the border row began, tensions have soared and there was very little interaction between the two sides. The two sides only made regular statements emphasising the need to respect each other’s territorial integrity.
However, the military commanders of both sides met regularly on both the Indian and Chinese sides. While these meetings did help in keeping the tempers low between the two sides, there was not much movement when it came to disengagement.
However, since the October meeting of the two leaders, there have been a lot of positives, and both sides are now eager to iron out all differences and manage the border effectively.
The Ministry of External Affairs said in a late night statements that Dova and Yi would meet on December 18. The Chinese said that the meeting would take place.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said in a statement, ‘Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval will meet on Wednesday in Beijing to discuss the boundary question.’
‘As agreed by China and India, Wang Yi and Ajit Doval will hold the 23rd meeting of Special Representatives for China-India Boundary question in Beijing on December 18,’ Xu Feihong said on X.
No quick fix
The fact that the two sides are willing to talk is in itself a positive development. While China watchers tell Organiser that the move is welcome, one should not expect quick fixes. The talks will take place and more such engagements would be needed to completely iron out the differences.
The issue is that both sides have their own perception of the LAC, which is over 4,000 kilometres long. There would be some gives and takes by both sides over the next couple of years before a solution is found. However, these engagements suggest that the situation is workable, and this is in itself a positive development.
This engagement is like a fresh start since a lot of time has gone since the two Special Representatives held talks. A lot of water has flown under the bridge, and over the years, plenty of mistrust has been built up. However, for now, both sides remain positive, and these talks to be held on Wednesday are important. It would set the tone for summit-level talks between President Xi and Prime Minister Modi.
In the run-up to these talks, there was plenty of diplomacy and dialogue at the military and diplomatic levels. This led to a rare meeting of Xi Jinping and Narendra Modi, which again was taking place after a gap of five years. The meeting eventually ended with disengagement from the LAC.
While the aggression itself was a dampener, the tensions further escalated after the bloody Galwan Valley clash of 2020. Soldiers from both sides were killed in action, following which all engagements came to a grinding halt. The situation was so tense that there was speculation galore that the two sides may go to war.
The dialogue on border management between the two sides is always tricky and hard to negotiate since each has its own perception of the LAC. Further, the boundary lies in an extremely harsh and difficult terrain spanning the highest mountains in the world- The Himalayas. Following China’s takeover of Tiber in 1959, the border originally between Bharat and Tibet is now considered the boundary between India and China.
Each side has its own understanding of where exactly the boundary lies or which point on the mountain, valley, or river marks the LAC. This has very often led to skirmishes and face-offs by the border patrol parties. Differences have cropped up on how each side demarcates the boundary despite both sides creating buffer zones being created at various points along the LAC.
While these challenges remain, the positive to take from these developments is that both sides are eager to iron out these differences. In a statement during the ongoing Winter Session of the Lok Sabha, External Affairs Minister, Dr. S Jaishankar said that India is committed to remaining engaged with China to find a fair and mutually acceptable settlement of the boundary issue.
Jaishankar, however, made it clear that ties with Beijing will be contingent upon strictly respecting the sanctity of the Line of Actual Control and adhering to pacts on border management with no attempt to unilaterally alter the status quo.
He also said that the disengagement of troops has been achieved in full in eastern Ladakh through a step-by-step process, culminating in Depsang and Demchok. Now, India expects the commencement of talks on remaining issues that it had placed on the agenda, he had also said.
