India, China officials hold border talks in Chengdu

Source
livemint.com
Editor
Yao Jianing
Time
2018-09-29 15:17:11
Officials have met under the aegis of the WMCC 12 times since its institution. Photo: AFP
Source: livemint.com

New Delhi: India and China on Thursday held talks on “effectively managing their undemarcated border” and also explored confidence-building measures to improve trust and understanding between the two countries, an official statement said.

The talks, at the meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC), were held in Chengdu in Sichuan province of China, the statement said.

This comes five months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Wuhan to stabilise ties, rocked by a 73-day-long military standoff in Bhutan’s Doklam plateau last year. The standoff was seen as a result of the undemarcated India-China border, a legacy of the 1962 war between the two countries.

The Indian delegation to the talks was led by Pranay Verma, joint secretary (East Asia), in the foreign ministry, and the Chinese side by Yi Xianliang, director-general, department of boundary and oceanic affairs, Chinese ministry of foreign affairs.

“Both sides reviewed the situation along the India-China border areas. They discussed ways to effectively manage border areas in accordance with the strategic guidance provided by the leaders of the two countries at the Wuhan summit and explored various confidence-building measures with a view to further enhancing mutual trust and understanding,” the Indian statement said.

“The Indian side emphasized that peace and tranquillity in the India-China border areas was an important prerequisite for smooth development of their bilateral relations,” it added. This was something Modi had conveyed to Xi in Wuhan and during subsequent meetings.

The WMCC was established in 2012 as an institutional mechanism for consultation and coordination for management of India-China border areas, as well as to exchange views on strengthening communication and cooperation, including between their border security personnel.

Officials have met under the aegis of the WMCC 12 times since its institution.

Disclaimer: This article was originally produced and published by livemint.com. View the original article at livemint.com.

 

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