India-China Signs 6-Point Agreement to Mend Border Tension
By Tenzin Chokyi
DHARAMSALA 19 Dec: India and China have signed a 6-point consensus agreement to mend border disputes between the two countries as India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, both of whom serve as Special Representatives (SRs) of their respective countries held talks at the 23rd SRs meeting in Beijing on Wednesday.
The SRs agreed to “continue to take measures to maintain peace and tranquillity in the border area and promote the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations,” according to a statement issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
The consensus covers the resumption of Indian pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar in Tibet, which has been halted since 2019. Moreover, the two countries are set to engage in cross-border river cooperation and trade at the Sikkim border, according to a report by The Times of India.
Doval, who is currently in Beijing, told People’s Daily Online that “the resumption of the meeting between special representatives of both countries for the boundary question after an interval of five years is an important move to implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries.”
The development follows the meeting between Prime Minister Modi and President Xi on the margins of the BRICS summit held in Kazan on 23 October, where they agreed to resume the SRs meeting to find meaningful resolutions to establish peace at the border.
In an announcement made by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs before the departure of the Indian delegation to China, it stated: “As agreed during the meeting of the two leaders in Kazan on 23 October, 2024, the two special representatives will discuss the management of peace and tranquillity in the border area and explore fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solutions to the boundary question.”
