Doval arrives in Beijing to attend India-China Special Representatives' talks to restore ties after Ladakh standoff

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval in Beijing for India-China talks to restore ties after Ladakh standoff.

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval arrived in Beijing on Tuesday (December 17, 2024) to take part in the India-China Special Representatives’ talks to be held on Wednesday (December 18, 2024) aimed at restoring the bilateral ties stalled for over four years due to the military standoff in eastern Ladakh.

Mr. Doval will hold the 23rd round of the Special Representatives (SR) talks with his Chinese counterpart and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and is expected to discuss a range of issues to rebuild the bilateral ties following the October 21 agreement of disengagement and patrolling in eastern Ladakh between the two countries.

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Ahead of crucial talks, China on Tuesday said that it is ready to honour commitments based on the common understandings reached between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping during their meeting at Kazan in Russia on the sidelines of the BRICS summit on October 24.

“China stands ready to work with India to deliver on important common understandings reached between our two leaders, enhance mutual trust and confidence through dialogue and communication, honour our commitments and promote our bilateral relations to go back to the sound and steady growth,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a media briefing when asked about SR talks.

On Monday, the External Affairs Ministry said, “As agreed during the meeting of the two leaders in Kazan on October 23, the two SRs will discuss the management of peace and tranquillity in the border areas and explore a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to the boundary question.”

After the Modi-Xi meeting, which was their first after five years, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart met on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Brazil followed by a meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination on China-India Border Affairs (WMCC).