India, China begin counterterrorism talks

April 11, 2013 10:38 pm | Updated November 17, 2021 02:55 am IST - BEIJING:

India and China on Thursday opened a two-day dialogue on counterterrorism, an annual affair which, this year, is expected to touch upon the situation in Afghanistan, following the 2014 pullout of NATO forces, among other issues.

The Indian delegation in talks this week in Beijing is led by Additional Secretary in charge of counterterrorism in the Ministry of External Affairs, Navtej Sarna.

The talks, which have been held for over a decade now, are a routine affair. Considering China’s close “all-weather” relationship with Pakistan, Beijing has generally been reluctant to seriously engage with India on the elephant in the room, as it were, with regard to the question of counterterrorism cooperation.

While Chinese officials did not comment on this week’s dialogue, their delegation is expected to be led by Qiu Guohong, Director General of the Department of External Security Affairs in the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Mr. Qiu served as the Chinese Ambassador in Nepal before taking up his post. In Nepal, his term coincided with a renewed push by China to clamp down on Tibetan groups.

The Department of External Security Affairs is tasked with reporting on external security issues, overseeing China’s foreign missions as well as administering foreign non-governmental organisations in China. The dialogue is also expected to deal with cyber security issues.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.