Indian, Chinese armies hold two sessions of high-level dialogue on border situation

New Delhi, Sep 8 (PTI) The Indian and Chinese armies held their first high-level commanders' flag talks in two sessions on both sides of the frontier in the Arunachal Pradesh sector this week in line with the outcome reached at last month's Special Representatives dialogue in Beijing, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Tuesday.

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval had held the Special Representatives (SR) talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that focused on delimitation of the frontier and sustaining work on trans-boundary cooperation as well as to maintain peace along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the Senior Highest Military Commander-Level Flag Meeting was held at Wacha on the Indian side in Arunachal Pradesh on September 6 and Damai on the Chinese side on September 7.

The talks were held amid reports of aggressive military posturing by Chinese troops along the LAC in Upper Subansiri region of Arunachal Pradesh.

"Pursuant to the understandings reached between the Special Representatives of India and China in August 2025 and August 2026, and subsequent discussions at the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination meetings held in Beijing and New Delhi in May and August 2026 respectively, the first Senior Highest Military Commander-Level Flag Meeting was held at Wacha on the Indian side in Arunachal Pradesh on September 6 and Damai on the Chinese side on September 7," Jaiswal said at his weekly media briefing.

"A similar mechanism also exists in the Western Sector," he said.

Jaiswal also said that ties between India and China are gradually moving towards "positive direction".

In his remarks at the SR meeting, Doval said that normalcy in the ties has been a direct result of both sides maintaining peace and tranquillity in the border areas.

The Indian side highlighted the importance of maintaining peace and tranquillity in the India-China border areas for the continued development and progress of the bilateral relationship, the MEA had said on the SR talks.

Both Doval and Wang are the designated SRs for the boundary talks mechanism, which was established in 2003 to comprehensively address the dispute of the India-China border spanning 3,488 km.

In the last few months, the two sides have taken a series of measures to rebuild their relationship after it came under severe strain following the deadly Galwan Valley clashes in 2020.

The high-level military talks were held days ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to India to attend the BRICS summit.

Xi is likely to land in New Delhi on Saturday.