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India, China positively affirm implementation of latest disengagement agreement of October 2024
India and China moved a step closer to the objective of what is being officially described as “the normal development of bilateral relations” when Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi convened in Beijing for the 23rd Meeting of the Special Representatives (SRs) on Wednesday (December 18, 2024).
During the meeting, they provided positive directions for cross-border cooperation and exchanges, including resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, data sharing on trans-border rivers and border trade, said a readout from India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) after the meeting.
The meeting - the first since the 2020 Galwan Valley clash in the Western Sector of the India-China border areas - was in line with the discussions between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping when they met on the sidelines of the SCO Summit in Kazan, Russia in October.
“Both SRs underlined the importance of maintaining peace and tranquillity in the border areas to promote overall development of the India-China bilateral relationship. They emphasised the need to ensure peaceful conditions on the ground so that issues on the border do not hold back the normal development of bilateral relations,” the MEA said.
They agreed on the salience of stable, predictable and amicable India-China relations for regional and global peace and prosperity, the MEA added.
According to the MEA, the Special Representatives (SRs) positively affirmed the implementation of the latest disengagement agreement of October 2024, resulting in patrolling and grazing in relevant areas. They reiterated the importance of maintaining a political perspective of the overall bilateral relationship while seeking a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable framework for settlement of the boundary question, and resolved to inject more vitality into this process.
“Drawing on the learnings from the events of 2020, they discussed various measures to maintain peace and tranquillity on the border and advance effective border management. They decided to use, coordinate and guide the relevant diplomatic and military mechanisms towards this purpose,” the MEA stated.
While in Beijing, NSA Doval also called on Chinese Vice President Zheng. He invited Foreign Minister Wang Yi to visit India at a mutually convenient date to hold the next round of the SR meeting.
The SR meeting came less than two months after India and China announced an agreement on disengagement of troops in Depsang and Demchok in Eastern Ladakh, the last two remaining friction points along the Western Sector of the border (Line of Actual Control or LAC).
Earlier this month, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar provided a comprehensive picture about the status of India-China relations while making a detailed statement in both Houses of Parliament.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha on December 3, 2024, and in the Rajya Sabha the next day, he said bilateral relations between India and China were headed for “some improvement” after the recent disengagement agreement along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. He also noted that the next step would be to consider de-escalation of the troops massed along the LAC.
“Our ties have been abnormal since 2020, when peace and tranquility in the border areas were disturbed as a result of Chinese actions. Recent developments that reflect our continuous diplomatic engagement since then have set our ties in the direction of some improvement,” EAM Jaishankar said.
In June 2020, a tense standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in Eastern Ladakh had led to a violent face-off in the Galwan Valley. Twenty Indian soldiers had lost their lives. A large number of Chinese troops were also killed though China has never officially confirmed the actual number of deaths.
The incident led to a massing of troops along the border by both sides.
Multiple rounds of talks at the military and diplomatic levels gradually led to a disengagement at Galwan Valley (July 2020), North and South banks of Pangong Lake (February 2021), Gogra ( August 2021), and Hot Springs (September 2022). But the subsequent meetings did not lead to disengagement along the last two remaining friction points along LAC in the eastern Ladakh region (Demchok and Depsang) until October this year.
During the meeting, they provided positive directions for cross-border cooperation and exchanges, including resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, data sharing on trans-border rivers and border trade, said a readout from India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) after the meeting.
The meeting - the first since the 2020 Galwan Valley clash in the Western Sector of the India-China border areas - was in line with the discussions between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping when they met on the sidelines of the SCO Summit in Kazan, Russia in October.
“Both SRs underlined the importance of maintaining peace and tranquillity in the border areas to promote overall development of the India-China bilateral relationship. They emphasised the need to ensure peaceful conditions on the ground so that issues on the border do not hold back the normal development of bilateral relations,” the MEA said.
They agreed on the salience of stable, predictable and amicable India-China relations for regional and global peace and prosperity, the MEA added.
According to the MEA, the Special Representatives (SRs) positively affirmed the implementation of the latest disengagement agreement of October 2024, resulting in patrolling and grazing in relevant areas. They reiterated the importance of maintaining a political perspective of the overall bilateral relationship while seeking a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable framework for settlement of the boundary question, and resolved to inject more vitality into this process.
“Drawing on the learnings from the events of 2020, they discussed various measures to maintain peace and tranquillity on the border and advance effective border management. They decided to use, coordinate and guide the relevant diplomatic and military mechanisms towards this purpose,” the MEA stated.
While in Beijing, NSA Doval also called on Chinese Vice President Zheng. He invited Foreign Minister Wang Yi to visit India at a mutually convenient date to hold the next round of the SR meeting.
The SR meeting came less than two months after India and China announced an agreement on disengagement of troops in Depsang and Demchok in Eastern Ladakh, the last two remaining friction points along the Western Sector of the border (Line of Actual Control or LAC).
Earlier this month, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar provided a comprehensive picture about the status of India-China relations while making a detailed statement in both Houses of Parliament.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha on December 3, 2024, and in the Rajya Sabha the next day, he said bilateral relations between India and China were headed for “some improvement” after the recent disengagement agreement along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. He also noted that the next step would be to consider de-escalation of the troops massed along the LAC.
“Our ties have been abnormal since 2020, when peace and tranquility in the border areas were disturbed as a result of Chinese actions. Recent developments that reflect our continuous diplomatic engagement since then have set our ties in the direction of some improvement,” EAM Jaishankar said.
In June 2020, a tense standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in Eastern Ladakh had led to a violent face-off in the Galwan Valley. Twenty Indian soldiers had lost their lives. A large number of Chinese troops were also killed though China has never officially confirmed the actual number of deaths.
The incident led to a massing of troops along the border by both sides.
Multiple rounds of talks at the military and diplomatic levels gradually led to a disengagement at Galwan Valley (July 2020), North and South banks of Pangong Lake (February 2021), Gogra ( August 2021), and Hot Springs (September 2022). But the subsequent meetings did not lead to disengagement along the last two remaining friction points along LAC in the eastern Ladakh region (Demchok and Depsang) until October this year.
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