PM Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping held talks Wednesday.
Peace On Border Our Priority: Modi To Xi Jinping
Taking the first step to revive bilateral ties frozen ever since Chinese incursions in eastern Ladakh over four and a half years ago triggered a military standoff along the LAC, PM Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping held talks Wednesday. And underlined that “maintaining peace on border should be our priority” and “mutual trust, mutual respect and mutual sensitivity should be the basis of our ties”.
While both Modi and Xi emphasised the “importance of properly handling differences and disputes”, Xi also called for “more communication and cooperation” and said “people in our two countries and the international community are paying great attention to our meeting”. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said Special Representatives on the India-China boundary question will meet at an early date – NSA Ajit Doval and Chinese counterpart Wang Yi last met in December 2019, months before the Chinese incursions.
The agreement with China on patrolling rights is set to restore Indian access to several border points in eastern Ladakh that have been cut off since 2020, including the vital Depsang plateau that was blocked by forward deployed Chinese troops and has been the main point of concern.
Details of the patrolling agreement are yet to be shared but disengagement of troops at both Depsang, where Chinese soldiers had blocked access to patrolling points by occupying the ‘Y Junction‘, and Demchock, where tents had been erected Indian side of LAC, was vital to move to the next step of de-escalation.
The MEA, in a statement, said “the relevant dialogue mechanisms at the level of Foreign Ministers and other officials will also be utilised to stabilise and rebuild bilateral relations”. In other words, bilateral diplomatic and political conversations should resume. It said the two leaders “agreed” that the “Special Representatives on the India-China boundary question will meet at an early date to oversee the management of peace and tranquillity in border areas and to explore a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to the boundary question”.
