The Indian and Chinese armies greeting each other along the Line of Actual Control, near Karakoram pass in Ladakh, on Oct 31, on the occasion of the Diwali festival. - AFP
BEIJING: Senior Indian and Chinese officials are set to meet in Beijing to discuss the two countries’ border dispute, resuming formal talks on the subject that have been stalled since 2020.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval are poised to hold the so-called special representatives’ meeting Wednesday (Dec 18), according to statements from both countries.
Dedicated talks over ways to resolve disputes involving the 3,488-km (2,167-mile) border have been suspended since 2020. The decision to resume discussions - along with the disengagement of troops in the last two points of contention - came in October just before the meeting of President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the BRICS meeting in Brazil.
The impasse was triggered by border clashes four years ago that left some 20 Indian soldiers and an unknown number of Chinese troops dead. After the skirmishes, the two countries deployed missiles, fighter jets and thousands of troops along parts of the border. -Bloomberg
