China, India hope to ‘turn the page’ on Himalayan border tensions, push military-level talks
- 28th round of diplomatic talks on border issues was ‘comprehensive, in-depth and constructive’, Chinese foreign ministry says
- Proposals tabled for ‘complete disengagement’, India says, as both sides aim for 21st round of commander-level border talks ‘at an early date’
This came as the two countries completed their 28th round of diplomatic talks on border issues, a meeting described as “constructive” by the Chinese foreign ministry.
The Chinese delegation to Thursday’s talks was led by Hong Liang, director general for boundary and oceanic affairs at China’s foreign ministry, while Gourangalal Das, joint secretary for East Asia at the Indian foreign ministry, led the team from New Delhi.
According to a statement from China’s foreign ministry, the two sides held “comprehensive, in-depth and constructive” discussions on issues involving the China-India border and affirmed the “positive progress” made in negotiations.
The two sides agreed to “maintain the momentum of diplomatic and military negotiations … promote the settlement of issues related to the border areas, and turn the page on the situation in the border areas at an early date”, the statement said.
Officials also agreed to improve the mechanism for negotiation and consultation, and to hold the 21st round of commander-level talks “at an early date”.
India’s foreign ministry said both countries reviewed the situation along the Line of Actual Control – a notional demarcation line separating Indian-controlled and Chinese-controlled Himalayan territories – and tabled proposals to “achieve complete disengagement” in eastern Ladakh.
Indian and Chinese troops started disengaging from the Gogra-Hotsprings border area in the western Himalayas in September 2022, two years after a clash in the Galwan area that left at least four Chinese and 20 Indian soldiers dead.
At the time, India moved some 50,000 troops along the contested area in Ladakh to match Chinese deployments.
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“[The two sides] further agreed to the need to maintain peace and tranquillity along the border areas, ensure a stable situation on the ground and avoid any untoward incident,” the Indian statement said.
Both sides agreed to continue dialogue through military and diplomatic channels, it added.
Thursday’s talks were also attended by representatives from the two countries’ foreign and defence ministries and immigration affairs agencies. It was the third meeting of its kind to be held this year.
Senior officials met in Beijing in February, their first in-person talks since July 2019, and again in June in New Delhi. Thursday’s talks were virtual.
