India, China set to hold special representatives’ meeting tomorrow

As agreed by the two countries, the “23rd meeting of Special Representatives for China-India boundary question” will be held in Beijing on December 18, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian announced in Beijing.

This comes after New Delhi and Beijing held official-level talks — Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on India-China Border Affairs — in Delhi on December 5, where they “reflected on the lessons” learnt from the border standoff and agreed on the need for “effective border management” and “maintenance of peace and tranquility”.

At the WMCC meeting, the two sides agreed to revive several dialogue mechanisms, including the Special Representatives’ dialogue on boundary questions. The last round of the Special Representatives’ dialogue took place in New Delhi in December 2019.

The WMCC meeting was the first between top officials after the October 21 border patrolling pact, which was followed by the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in the Russian city of Kazan on October 23.

Following the WMCC talks, the MEA had said: “They also prepared for the next meeting of the Special Representatives, which is to be held in accordance with the decision of the two leaders in their meeting in Kazan on October 23.” The decision to revive the dialogue mechanism was taken at the Modi-Xi meeting.

While the two countries have completed the disengagement process, the focus is now on de-escalation and then de-militarisation of troops along the India-China border, after over four-and-a-half years of the border standoff.