Striking a positive note in tune with the Astana consensus, India and China agreed Friday to maintain “regular contact” and “build on their convergences”, while seeking mutually acceptable resolution of their differences with “due respect for each other’s sensitivities, concerns and aspirations”. This is also in line with the understanding at the BRICS summit in Xiamen, where both sides agreed to put the Doklam border crisis behind them. This was the major takeaway from the meeting between National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi, Special Representatives on the boundary question. This is the first time that a Special Representative from the Chinese side is also a member of the powerful politburo of the Communist Party of China’s Central Committee. The two sides are learnt to have discussed several confidence-building measures, including some at the field-level, and some at higher levels. They agreed that efforts should be made to ensure that “defence and security (personnel) must maintain strong contacts and cooperation” at the borders to “ensure that (the) sort of situation which happened recently should not recur”.
Sources told The Indian Express that officials from the foreign ministries and militaries of both countries will meet periodically to resolve issues that may affect maintenance of peace along the border. The two sides will also hold sectoral commander meetings at various border points. These flow from the working mechanism in October 2013 to ensure peace and tranquility along the border between the two countries. Sources said that the two sides took a “forward-looking approach”, and discussions were “very constructive on where the relationship should be going and will be going”.
