DELHI: The Dec 18, 2024 meeting between India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing was an important step in the direction of normalisation of relations between the two countries.
This was the 23rd meeting of the Special Representatives. The last took place in December 2019, following which the violent Galwan clashes of 2020 completely offset India-China relations. The clashes resulted in a total breakdown of communication and the confidence-building measures (CBMs) between the two sides and a military standoff on the border.
The year 2025 marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and China. However, even after years of discussion, the India-China border continues to be disputed.
There has been no concrete change on this, even though it’s been proved time and again that the issue has the capacity to derail diplomatic relations between the two countries. The Galwan clashes also showed the fragility of the CBMs.
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The Dec 18 meeting took place after the patrolling resolution for the Line of Actual Control in October, which led to some easing of tension and disengagement.
But while the meeting does indicate some positive momentum in India-China relations, one cannot overlook the history behind it and challenges ahead.
This is underscored by the Chinese releasing a “six-point consensus” following the meeting – one that the Indian side has not been very comfortable accepting in its totality. Also significantly, even after Beijing declared that it is keen and ready to work with India to come to a resolution, no joint statement was issued by the two at the end of the meeting.
A Chinese foreign ministry statement asserted that any solution to the border dispute should be “fair, reasonable and acceptable to both sides” and “both sides agreed to continue taking measures to maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas and to promote the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations”. It also said that border issue will be put at “appropriate position”, without offering any detail or clarification as to what this position entails.
Beijing also voiced a desire it has been signalling since the Galwan crisis to “delink the border issue from bilateral relations”.
