26th meeting of the WMCC: First time since border stand-off, Delhi envoy travels to Beijing for border talks

The official who headed the Indian delegation is Shilpak Ambule, Joint Secretary (East Asia) in the MEA, looking at ties with China, Japan and the Koreas.

The Chinese delegation was led by Director General of the Boundary & Oceanic Affairs Department of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Fluent in Mandarin, Ambule has worked as the official interpreter for Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi during their meetings with Chinese leaders Hu Jintao, Wen Jiabao, Li Keqiang and Xi Jinping among others, and has served as a diplomat at the Indian embassy in Beijing.

He has been chief of staff (first as a director and then, as a JS) in External Affairs minister S Jaishankar’s office.

The official statement by the Ministry of External Affairs said that “the two sides reviewed the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Western Sector of India-China border areas and discussed proposals for disengagement in the remaining areas in an open and constructive manner, which would help in restoration of peace and tranquillity along the LAC in Western Sector and create conditions for restoration of normalcy in bilateral relations.”

“To achieve this objective in accordance with the existing bilateral agreements and protocols, they agreed to hold the next (18th) round of the Senior Commanders meeting at an early date. The two sides agreed to continue discussions through military and diplomatic channels,” the MEA statement said.

The last meeting of the WMCC took place in October last year, a month after the disengagement at the Gogra-Hot Springs. But the border stand-off remains unresolved. It escalated on June 15, 2020, when Indian and Chinese troops clashed during disengagement in Galwan Valley near Patrol Point 14, resulting in the death of 20 Indian soldiers and an undisclosed number of Chinese troops.

In September last year, Indian and Chinese troops disengaged at Patrolling Pillar (15) in the Gogra-Hotspring region of Eastern Ladakh. With disengagement at PP-15, forces of the two countries have disengaged at all friction points in the region including the North and South banks of the Pangong Tso, PP-14, PP-15 and PP-17A.

However, Chinese forces have still blocked access to traditional patrolling areas of Indian forces on the LAC in the Depsang Plains and Charding Nala regions. The last disengagement was achieved at PP-17 A in August 2021.
Indian and Chinese troops had a face-off in Tawang sector in Arunachal Pradesh in December 2022, in their first face-off reported in the eastern sector since the border standoff began.

India has maintained that the border stand-off has impacted bilateral ties, and there cannot be business-as-usual until there is disengagement and wider de-escalation. More than 1 lakh troops are stationed on either side of the India-China border.

While leaders including Foreign ministers, Defence ministers and officials from both sides have engaged with each other at multilateral events, including G-20, SCO and BRICS, bilateral conversations have been stalled for almost three years now.

There have been a few forays in the bilateral space as well.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping had a brief “social” encounter at the G-20 summit dinner in Bali last November. Chinese Foreign minister Wang Yi had come to India in March 2022 and the Chinese special envoy on Afghanistan had visited India in August last year. Jaishankar and Wang had a meeting in Bali in July 2022.

With India holding the Presidency of both G-20 and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), Chinese President Xi has at least two opportunities to come to India. While the SCO summit is likely to be held in June-July this year, the G-20 summit is scheduled to be held in September.

In SCO, G-20 year, a thaw signal

Delhi’s move to send in a top official to Beijing, albeit for the border talks, signals a willingness to move forward. The ostensible reason could be to ensure a high-level visit from China given that SCO and G-20 meetings will be in India this year. Much will depend on how the LAC ground situation unfolds.