New Delhi, Jan 23: Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri will travel to Beijing on a two-day trip beginning Sunday to hold talks with his Chinese counterpart, in the second such high-profile visit from India to China in less than one-and-a-half months.
Last month, National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval visited Beijing and held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi under the framework of Special Representatives (SR) dialogue on the boundary dispute.
“Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri will be visiting Beijing on January 26 and 27 for a meeting of the Foreign Secretary-Vice Minister mechanism between India and China,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.
“The resumption of this bilateral mechanism flows from the agreement at the leadership level to discuss the next steps for India-China relations, including in the political, economic, and people-to-people domains,” it said in a brief statement.
It is expected that the two sides would touch upon a number of issues at the talks including ways to deescalate the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh and resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra.
China has been impressing upon India to agree on resuming direct flights between the two countries and facilitate issuance of visas to Chinese citizens.
The decision to revive the SR mechanism and other such dialogue formats was taken at a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kazan on October 23.
In the nearly 50-minute meeting, Modi underscored the importance of properly handling differences and disputes and not allowing them to disturb peace and tranquillity in border areas.
The Modi-Xi meeting came two days after India and China firmed up a disengagement pact for Depsang and Demchok, the last two friction points in eastern Ladakh.
In the SR dialogue, India pressed for a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable settlement of the overall boundary dispute between the two countries.
Doval and Wang also focused on “positive” direction for cross-border cooperation including resuming the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, river data sharing and border trade.
India has been maintaining that its ties with China cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas. (PTI)
