New Delhi: During the first visit by an Indian official delegation to Beijing in over three years, India and China discussed proposals for disengagement and improvement in the situation at the border where Indian and Chinese troops continue to be on stand-off at a couple of friction points on the Line of Actual Control.
The foreign office-led Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) held its 26th meeting in Beijing on Wednesday. This is the first ‘in-person’ meeting of this framework since the 15th iteration took place in Beijing in July 2019.
It also marks the first bilateral visit from India to China since the pandemic and the stand-off began in 2020. India has primarily frozen other bilateral mechanisms, except for those related to the border, following the start of the stand-off, which resulted in the first fatalities at the border in 40 years.
After disengagement at three of the six stand-off points, there have been at least two bilateral visits by senior Chinese officials – foreign minister Wang Yi in March 2022 and China’s special envoy on Afghanistan in August 2022.
This year, Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to visit India to participate in the G-20 and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summits.
The ministry of external affairs’ readout said that the two sides reviewed the situation along with the LAC in the western sector, which refers to the stand-off in eastern Ladakh.
The Indian statement claimed that there was discussion on “proposals for disengagement in the remaining areas in an open and constructive manner, which would help in the restoration of peace and tranquillity along the LAC in Western Sector and create conditions for restoration of normalcy in bilateral relations”.
The MEA note added that to reach this objective “in accordance with existing bilateral agreements and protocols”, India and China agreed to hold the next round of senior military commanders’ talks at an early date.
The Chinese language readout of China’s ministry of foreign affairs confirmed that it was agreed that the 18th round of military talks will be held as soon as possible.
However, as in the previous meetings, the Chinese statement did not refer to the need for “disengagement”, but only to “further ease” the border situation into a “stage of normalisation and control”.
It reflected the difference in perception between the two Asian sides about the remaining issues at the border. While India wants to return to the status quo at the two remaining friction points of Depsang and Demchok, beginning with a disengagement, China does not consider it part of the current stand-off.
After the disengagement at Patrolling Point 15 in September last year, China had effectively claimed that the stand-off was over, as the “phase of emergency response since the Galwan valley incident has basically come to an end”.