India and China reviewed the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and agreed to continue diplomatic and military engagement to maintain peace in border areas….reports Asian Lite News Desk
India has reiterated the need for an early meeting of the Expert Level Mechanism on trans-border rivers and urged China to share technical details of its upstream projects, as the two countries reviewed the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and discussed boundary management during the 36th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on India-China Border Affairs.
The meeting was held in New Delhi on Thursday, with the Indian delegation led by Sujit Ghosh, Joint Secretary (East Asia) in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), while the Chinese side was headed by Hou Yanqi, Director General of the Boundary and Oceanic Affairs Department of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
According to the MEA, the two sides held frank discussions on the prevailing situation along the LAC and reaffirmed that maintaining peace and tranquillity in the border areas remains essential for the overall development of bilateral ties.
“Both sides agreed to continue to use existing diplomatic and military channels, including the WMCC, local commander-level meetings and other agreed mechanisms, to resolve outstanding issues and avoid misunderstanding and miscalculation along the LAC,” the MEA said.
The meeting also followed up on the outcomes of the 24th round of the India-China Special Representatives (SR) talks held last year.
During the discussions, both sides exchanged views on boundary delimitation, border management, institutional mechanisms and trans-border cooperation.
“As a follow-up to the outcomes of 24th SR Talks, two sides held detailed exchanges on issues related to boundary delimitation, border management, mechanism-building and trans-border cooperation,” the MEA said.
India also highlighted the need to advance discussions on shared river systems.
“The Indian side reiterated the need for early convening of the next meeting of the Expert Level Mechanism on trans-border rivers and emphasised the importance of sharing technical details on upstream projects,” the ministry stated.
The latest talks come after the 35th WMCC meeting held in Beijing in May, during which both countries described their discussions as constructive and forward-looking.
At that meeting, both sides reviewed developments along the border and expressed satisfaction over continued peace and stability in frontier areas, noting that the improvement had contributed to the gradual normalisation of bilateral relations.
The current round of discussions also built on agreements reached during the 24th round of the Special Representatives’ dialogue held last year, when National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi discussed ways to maintain stability along the border while advancing the boundary settlement process.
During those talks, both sides agreed that the boundary question should be approached from the broader perspective of bilateral relations and that efforts should continue towards a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable settlement under the framework of the 2005 Agreement on Political Parameters and Guiding Principles.
The two countries had also agreed to establish an Expert Group under the WMCC to explore early progress on boundary delimitation, create a Working Group to strengthen border management, set up additional General Level Mechanisms in the eastern and middle sectors, and continue using diplomatic and military channels to address border-related issues.
The MEA said both sides remain committed to maintaining communication through established mechanisms to preserve peace and stability along the LAC while preventing misunderstandings and miscalculations.
