India and China shared a thorough overview of the developments along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on Tuesday, including trans-border river administration and the resumed Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra. These aspects were discussed while attending the 33rd working meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC), which was scheduled in Beijing.
The Indian team was led by Gourangalal Das, Joint Secretary (East Asia) in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), and Hong Liang, Director General in the Boundary and Oceanic Affairs Department of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, led the Chinese team.
As per the MEA, the talks were held in a "positive" and "constructive" atmosphere.
"Ensuring peace and stability along the border is crucial for the smooth development of overall bilateral relations. Both sides discussed different measures and proposals for putting into practice the decisions made at the 23rd meeting of the Special Representatives on the India-China boundary question, held in Beijing in December 2024. The emphasis was on pushing forward effective border management," said an official MEA statement.
The announcement also underscored that the two sides also consented to maintaining and further fortifying their communication lines diplomatic and military for achieving this purpose. Discussions also involved early reopening of cross-border contacts, including trans-border rivers cooperation and Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra.
The two nations also agreed to make serious preparations for the forthcoming Special Representatives (SR) meeting, which will be held in India later this year. During the visit, the leader of the Indian delegation also had a courtesy call with China's Assistant Foreign Minister, Hong Lei.
Earlier this year, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri visited Beijing on January 26-27 to attend the Foreign Secretary-Vice Foreign Minister mechanism. After these talks, India and China made a joint announcement to resume the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra in the summer of 2025.
The latest WMCC, which was an ongoing exercise for evaluating and overseeing India-China bilateral relations in terms of the accord arrived at during the meeting last October between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Kazan,
Foreign Secretary Misri and Vice Foreign Minister of China Sun Weidong on their interaction arrived at a package of people-centered measures to solidify and drive diplomatic relations to a higher pedestal.
Moreover, both states also agreed in principle to renew direct air connections, with their respective technical authorities on both sides to negotiate the new framework towards this end as soon as practicable.
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