Next meet of India, China on boundary issue tomorrow

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval will hold boundary talks in New Delhi on Saturday under the framework of Special Representatives dialogue, the External Affairs Ministry has announced.

Wang's visit to India will be the first high-level one from China after the Modi-Xi informal meeting in October as well as after New Delhi pulled out of the RCEP following a meeting of the group's leadership in Bangkok recently.

"The 22nd meeting of the Special Representatives (SR) for India-China boundary question will be held in New Delhi December 21," the MEA said.

Doval and Wang are the designated Special Representatives of the two countries for the boundary talks.

Sources said the two sides are likely to review implementation of decisions taken at the second informal summit between Modi and Chinese President Xi in October.

Wang was to visit India for the SR talks in September but the trip was postponed then.

The two sides have already held over 20 rounds of talks under the framework of SR dialogue which was set up to find an early solution to the border dispute.

The India-China border dispute covers 3,488-km-long Line of Actual Control. China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of southern Tibet while India contests it.

Both sides have been asserting that pending the final resolution of the boundary issue, it is necessary to maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas.

The two-day border talks between special representatives will focus on delimitation of the border, boundary management and a host of bilateral and international issues, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in Beijing on Friday.

"The Special Representative (SR) talks is the main channel and an important platform for our negotiations and strategic communications," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told the media.

The two countries, according to the practice, will hold the meetings in rotation, he said.

Last year the talks were held in China.

"The two SRs will follow the consensus of the two leaders, (Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Xi Jinping) and exchange views on delimitation of the border, boundary management and practical cooperation to seek a resolution," he said.

"The two sides will also exchange views on bilateral and international issues of mutual interest," Geng said.