India News | Will Work Towards Taking Forward Understanding Reached at SR Dialogue: India
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Days after NSA Ajit Doval held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, India on Friday said it will work with China to take forward the understanding reached by the two sides.
New Delhi, Dec 20 (PTI) Days after NSA Ajit Doval held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, India on Friday said it will work with China to take forward the understanding reached by the two sides.
Doval and Wang, the Special Representatives (SR) on the border issue, held wide-ranging talks in Beijing on Wednesday under the SR dialogue mechanism after a gap of five years.
The talks took place weeks after India and China completed the disengagement process in Demchok and Depsang, the two last friction points in eastern Ladakh. The disengagement effectively ended the over four-year border standoff in the region.
"Both sides have reaffirmed their commitment to explore a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable framework for the settlement of the boundary question in accordance with the political parameters and guiding principles agreed in 2005," external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
He was responding to a question on the SR talks at his weekly media briefing.
"Apart from discussing the framework for settlement of the boundary question, the Special Representatives reviewed issues of peaceful border management comprehensively in this round," Jaiswal said.
In the talks, Doval and Wang 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, an Indian readout said.
Asked to elaborate on the steps, Jaiswal said: "It means that the discussions have gone into the positive direction, and thereafter, whatever else is required will be done to take these cross-border exchanges forward."
On the possibility of resumption of full-fledged trade relations between the two sides, Jaiswal said several meetings have been held by the two sides since October, including at the highest level, "where it has been agreed that we will take step by step action".
The decision to revive the SR dialogue mechanism was taken at a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kazan on October 23, two days after India and China firmed up a pact for disengagement in Demchok and Depsang in eastern Ladakh.
Following the meeting of the Indian and Chinese leaders at Kazan in Russia and the talks between the Special Representatives, "now we'll take it forward with other meetings and thereafter we'll see how things shape (up) on these matters," Jaiswal said.
Asked about a "six-point consensus" listed in a Chinese readout of the Doval-Wang talks, Jaiswal referred to the Indian statement saying it provides the perspective of what was discussed.
"We can speak for our press release and give you details on that," he said.
The Indian readout on the talks did not mention any "six-point consensus".
It is learnt that both sides looked at the possibility of a joint statement following the SR talks but could firm that up.
The military standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh began in May 2020 and a deadly clash at the Galwan Valley in June that year resulted in a severe strain in ties between the two neighbours.
India has been maintaining that its ties with China cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas.
Following completion of the disengagement process in Demchok and Depsang, Indian and Chinese militaries also resumed patrolling activities in the two areas after a gap of almost four-and-a-half years.
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)