Sharing a disputed boundary for decades, India and China on Saturday agreed to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas and stressed on approaching the boundary issue from the strategic perspective of bilateral ties.
The two sides also resolved to intensify efforts to achieve fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to the boundary or Line of Actual Control(LAC) question during the talks between National Security Advisor(NSA) Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi here.
They held parleys under the Special Representatives framework. This was the 22nd round of talks to resolve the disputed boundary of more than 3,500 km LAC stretching from Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttrakhand to Arunachal Pradesh in the east.
The Ministry of External Affairs later said the talks were constructive with focus on taking forward bilateral developmental partnership. There was consensus that both sides should respect each other's sensitivities and concerns, the Ministry said in a statement. Wang arrived here on Friday for the talks.
Both sides agreed that it is important to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas and underlined the importance of approaching the boundary issue from strategic perspective of India-China ties, it said. The two sides agreed that early settlement of boundary issue serves fundamental interests of both countries, the Ministry said. Officials said various dimensions of the boundary issue were discussed at the talks.
It is the first high-level visit from China to India after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held the second informal summit in Mamallapuram in October as well as after New Delhi pulled out of the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). Doval and Wang are the designated Special Representatives of the two countries for the boundary talks.
Wang was to visit India for the talks in September but the trip was postponed then.
The India-China border dispute covers 3,488-km-long Line of Actual Control. China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of southern Tibet while India contests it.
Both sides have been asserting that pending the final resolution of the boundary issue, it is necessary to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas.
India and China fought a war in 1962 and the subsequent years have not seen any major conflagration along the LAC. However, transgressions take place by the Chinese Army claiming the specified sector to be in China. The Indian Army has repeatedly prevented such transgressions leading to a stand-off with the Chinese Army in Doklam near Sikkim in 2017.
Army Chief General Bipin Rawat had said on Friday here India is optimistic that the situation along the LAC will further improve with the two armies actively working to reduce and manage troop confrontations after the Doklam face-off in 2017,
The first informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jingping at Wuhan in April 2018 had led to "strategic guidance" to the two militaries to actively defuse troop confrontations during patrolling in accordance with existing protocols and mechanisms.
"Post Wuhan, the strategic guidance from the highest-level and understanding of the nuances of the working mechanism at the functional level has enabled management of challenges along the LAC," said Rawat on Friday.
The statement came even as the eighth edition of the "Hand-in-Hand" exercise between the Indian and Chinese armies, a confidence-building measure, concluded at Umroi in Meghalaya on Friday.
"The exercise was aimed at practicing joint drills of counter-terrorism operations in a semi-urban terrain under the UN mandate. The two armies have gained from each other's expertise and experience in conduct of counter-terror and company-level operations. Troops of both the contingents departed on a healthy note of mutual informal respect and goodwill."
Bilateral border tensions have certainly reduced since the 73-day face-off in Doklam as both the countries have evolved mechanisms, especially at battalion commander-level, to ensure there are lesser confrontations along the LAC stretching from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh.