Chinese foreign minister expresses willingness to collaborate on border issues

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has expressed a readiness to work with India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval to address and manage border issues between the two countries.

This statement comes amidst ongoing tensions in the eastern Ladakh region.

Wang Yi’s message of cooperation was conveyed in a congratulatory note to Doval on his reappointment as India’s National Security Advisor and Special Representative for the India-China boundary discussions.

Highlighting the significance of China-India relations, Wang Yi noted that the relationship between the two countries extends beyond bilateral concerns and has substantial global importance. In his message, Wang emphasized that China and India, being the most populous developing nations and emerging economies, share a relationship of increasing global significance.

As China’s Special Representative for the India-China border talks, Wang expressed his willingness to work with Doval to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of both nations. He stressed the importance of properly handling the situation on the ground to jointly maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas, according to a report by the state-run Xinhua news agency.

Wang Yi's message follows his recent meeting with India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Astana, Kazakhstan. This was the first high-level interaction between Indian and Chinese officials after the formation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new government.

The Special Representatives mechanism, established in 2003 to address the India-China border dispute, has held 19 meetings so far. While the mechanism has been useful in managing recurring tensions, it has not yet achieved a lasting resolution. The ongoing border standoff in eastern Ladakh, which began in May 2020 following a violent clash near Pangong Tso, has further strained relations between the two countries.

Since the 2020 clashes, India and China have conducted 21 rounds of Corps Commander-level talks to resolve the standoff, with a 22nd round expected soon. Both sides have agreed to disengage from several points, including the Galwan Valley, Pangong Lake, Hot Springs, and Gogra. However, India continues to press for disengagement from the Depsang and Demchok areas, asserting that normal relations cannot be restored until the border situation is normalized.

China maintains that the boundary issue does not encompass the entirety of China-India relations and should be managed appropriately within the broader context of bilateral ties.