India and China on Saturday reaffirmed that the Wuhan dialogue was the template for advancing New Delhi-Beijing ties, and agreed to impart fresh urgency to resolving their border row.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in a statement stressed that the 21st round of boundary talks in Chengdu between the two Special Representatives — National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and China’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister, Wang Yi — were guided by the Wuhan informal summit in April between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping. A Chinese foreign ministry statement quoted Mr. Doval as saying the dialogue between the two leaders will lead to a “new turning point” in India-China ties.
The talks imparted urgency to resolve the border dispute between the two countries in the three sectors — western, central and eastern, along the 3,488 kilometre Line of Actual Control (LAC). “Recalling the strategic guidance and support to their work provided by the leaders of the Wuhan summit, the Special Representatives resolved to intensify their efforts to achieve a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to the India-China boundary question at an early date,” the MEA statement said. They also agreed that an “early settlement” of the boundary question serves the “fundamental interest of both countries.”
A Chinese foreign ministry statement quoting Mr. Wang also highlighted that the Wuhan informal summit, among the three meeting s this year between President Xi and Prime Minister Modi, had “especially” provided “a strategic lead for the development of Sino-Indian relations”. “The relationship between the two countries is showing an all-round improvement and development momentum. It is necessary for the two countries' special meeting mechanism to keep up with this positive trend, show new weather, embody new actions, and create more favourable conditions and environment for bilateral relations through constructively promoting border negotiations,” Mr. Wang observed.
The MEA statement focused on identifying new Confidence Building Measures (CBMs), pointing to “the importance of predictability in border management”. The two delegations underscored the importance of “maintaining strategic communication at all levels”.
Discussions were held “on various confidence building measures to promote exchanges and communication between their border personnel”. The bilateral Working Mechanism on Consultation and Coordination for Border Affairs (WMCC) has been entrusted to work out further details. The two SRs agreed that “pending the final resolution of the boundary question, it is important to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas and to ensure that the boundary question does not affect the overall development of the bilateral relationship”.
They acknowledged the “mature handling” of issues relating to the India-China border areas since the Wuhan Summit — an obvious reference to avoiding a situation such as the 73-day Doklam military standoff between the two countries in 2017.
The two senior officials discussed the “regional situation,” which included Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Chinese foreign ministry statement said Mr. Doval “expressed his condolences over the attack on the Chinese Consulate in Karachi and strongly condemned this terrorist act”. “[Mr.] Wang Yi emphasised that the attack was directed against diplomatic institutions and… could not be tolerated. Terrorism is a common threat facing all countries in the world, and the international community should work together to advance counter-terrorism cooperation,” the statement observed.
On Afghanistan, India’s ambassador to China, Gautam Bambawale told China Global Television Network (CGTN), ahead of the boundary talks that India and China had already “kicked off” a project of jointly training Afghan diplomats. He added, “But we are looking forward to do something more with China in Afghanistan.”
