In an effort to resolve the boundary dispute between the two countries, Chinese Foreign Minister and State Councillor Wang Yi will hold talks with National Security Adviser Ajit Doval(NSA) here later this month.
The two countries had set up the mechanism some years back with Special Representatives of the two countries to address the long pending issue involving a 4,000 km border and have held at least 20 rounds of discussions so far. Doval and Wang are the designated Special Representatives.
Giving this information here on Wednesday, diplomatic sources said besides holding boundary talks with Doval, the Chinese Minister will have an extensive dialogue with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
It will be the first visit by a senior Chinese leader to India after the informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Mamallapuram, Tamil Nadu in October.
During Wang's visit, the two sides are likely to review implementation of decisions taken at the summit. Wang was to visit India for the SR talks in September but the trip was postponed then.
The two sides have already held over 20 rounds of talks under the framework of Special Representatives dialogue which was set up to find an early solution to the border dispute. The India-China border dispute covers Line of Actual Control(LAC). 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 tranquillity in the border areas.
The focus of the second informal summit between Modi and Xi was to further broaden India-China ties. The two leaders held their first informal summit in April last year in the Chinese city of Wuhan months after bilateral ties came under severe strain following a 73-day standoff between the armies of the two countries in Doklam, near Sikkim.