China, India hold talks on borders ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping visit

Source:Global Times Published: 2019/7/30 23:54:08

The 14th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on China-India Border Affairs was held Monday in Beijing, and a Chinese expert said Tuesday that it paved the way for realizing solid achievements between China and India in resolving their border issues and maintaining regional peace and development.

The meeting was co-chaired by Hong Liang, Director General of the Department of Boundary and Oceanic Affairs of Chinese Foreign Ministry and Naveen Srivastava, Joint Secretary (East Asia) of the Ministry of External Affairs of India, in a statement released Monday on the Chinese Foreign Ministry website.

Diplomatic, national defense, immigrants and local representatives from both countries participated in the meeting as well.

"It is good to see that China and India managed to find a way to repair their relationship and maintain it in a healthy way through consultation," Lan Jianxue, deputy director of department for Asia-Pacific studies at the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times on Tuesday. 

"It is hard to imagine that they achieved the stability in their relations just two years after their tense confrontation during the Doklam border standoff in 2017," said Lan.

The two sides spoke highly of the positive situation in the border areas of the two countries since the last meeting, exchanged views on border control issues and discussed specific measures for cooperation in the border areas, the ministry statement said. 

Participants reiterated that they will actively promote early-stage consultations on border negotiations and properly manage and control border issues, the statement added.

According to the website of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), both sides took note of regular exchanges at the troop level and at diplomatic level, including under the working mechanism framework for maintaining peace and tranquility in the border areas.

The two sides also reviewed the progress made in the effective implementation of confidence-building measures to further enhance mutual trust and understanding, the MEA statement said.

"The meeting paved the way for achieving substantial outcomes on border issues between the two countries during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to India later this year," said Lan. 

"It also shows Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's expectations and wishes of resolving India's border disputes with China and that rational and reciprocal China-India relations benefit economic development and regional stability for both," Lan said.

The working mechanism was established in 2012 as an institutional mechanism for consultation and coordination for the management of India-China border areas and it was also created to exchange views on strengthening communication and cooperation including between border security personnel of the two sides.

The two sides agreed to hold the next meeting at a mutually convenient date, according to the MEA statement.



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