National Security Advisor Ajit Doval said on Tuesday that the Indo-China border has been quiet in recent months and “trend of advancement” is being seen in the relationship between the two countries. He made this comment when Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi reached Delhi and attended the 24th special representative-level meeting of the border talks. Doval said that the meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping in Kazan last year gave a new direction to bilateral relationships and since then the atmosphere has remained positive.
Doval expressed confidence that the current dialogue would prove to be equally meaningful and it has helped both countries to move forward on many fronts. He described this dialogue as even more important as Prime Minister Modi will soon visit China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit.
Wang Yi also said during the meeting that he is happy to meet Doval in New Delhi and that the disgrace that arose in the last few years was not in the interest of the two countries. According to him, Xi and Modi’s meeting inspired to resolve the border dispute and now there is an opportunity to take relations in a positive direction. Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar also described permanent peace and stability on the border as necessary in the meeting with Wang to maintain confidence in bilateral relationships. He emphasized the return of forces and reducing stress and said that only then business, investment and strategic cooperation can be strengthened.
Wang Yi’s two-day visit is taking place at a time when heavy tariffs have been imposed by US President Donald Trump on Indo-US trade and the global landscape is unstable. In such a situation, both India and China are working towards border trade, restoration of direct flights and high level dialogues. Experts believe that this conversation before the SCO conference will not only reduce tension between the two neighbors but will also affect global strategic equations.
