National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval has been named by the Government as India’s Special Representative for boundary talks with China.
He replaces former NSA Shivshankar Menon to lead the negotiations with Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi and work out a settlement over the disputed 3,500-km border. The last round of talks was held in February in Delhi between Menon and Jiechi.
“Doval has been appointed as the Special Representative of India to conduct boundary negotiations and strategic consultations with China. This arrangement will be part of NSA’s overall assignment,” a communiqué from the Prime Minister’s Office said.
India and China had, in 2003, established the mechanism of Special Representatives to thrash out a resolution to the vexed boundary question. The two sides have so far held 17 rounds of talks, making some progress.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian PM Narendra Modi during their first meeting on the sidelines of BRICS Summit in Brazil in July had pledged to resolve the border dispute at the earliest accepting that this has hampered economic ties between the two countries.
India has claimed that Chinese border patrols have been intruding deeper into its side of the border. In fact, in September, the Indian and Chinese armies were locked in a face-off in the ladakh sector just as Chinese President Xi Jinping was visiting India for the first summit talks with Prime Minister Modi. Both leaders vowed to work together to resolve the border row that has defied a solution even after 17 rounds of high level talks over the last decade.
China claims more than 90,000 sq km (35,000 sq miles) disputed by New Delhi in the eastern sector of the Himalayas while India says China occupies 38,000 square km (14,600 sq miles) of its territory on the Aksai Chin plateau in the west.
New Delhi has plans to beef up defences and improve infrastructure along the border with China. Beijing has expressed concern about India’s plan to build roads and border outposts in Arunachal Pradesh.