Foreign Secretary Misri in Beijing for Discussions with Chinese Officials

The visit of the former Ambassador to China, also a guest of Misri, is on Republic Day eve when the country, before celebrating its Spring Festival, the Chinese New Year, set to begin January 29th, will virtually shut down for one week.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri arrived here Sunday for a two-day visit during which he will hold talks with Chinese officials, in the second such high-profile visit from India to China in less than one-and-a-half months.

The visit of the former Ambassador to China, also a guest of Misri, is on Republic Day eve when the country, before celebrating its Spring Festival, the Chinese New Year, set to begin January 29th, will virtually shut down for one week.

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The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said that Foreign Secretary 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 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.

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China on Friday welcomed the visit of Misri and sounded optimistic about the outcome, terming the development a culmination of several rounds of talks between top leaders and officials from both countries after more than four years of stalled ties over the Ladakh military standoff.

“We welcome Foreign Secretary Shri Vikram Misri’s travel to China for the meeting of the Foreign Secretary-Vice Minister mechanism between China and India,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning told a media briefing here.

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In October last, during their meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi made important common understandings about improving and growing bilateral relations, she said.
Recently, both sides have acted to earnestly implement these common understandings, she said.
Chinese and Indian foreign and defence ministers met each other on multilateral occasions.

This was preceded by the 23rd meeting between Special Representatives (SRs) of China and India on the boundary issue last month.

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The SRs National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and his Chinese counterpart and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held the 23rd meeting of the mechanism in December after a gap of five years. The meeting concluded with positive outcomes.

Mao said both sides agreed during talks to enhance and strengthen interactions and resume institutional dialogues as well as exchanges and cooperation in all fields, including working on bringing the China-India relations back on track with sound and steady growth at an early date.
Misri is the second high-level Indian official to travel to Beijing in about a month, following Doval's visit.

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It is likely that the two sides will discuss a number of issues, including ways to de-escalate the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh and resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra.
China has been suggesting the resumption of direct flights between the two countries and making it easier for the issuance of visas to Chinese citizens.

According to sources, it was at this Kazan meeting that the decision to revive the SR mechanism and other such dialogue formats was taken.
It was two days after India and China firmed up a disengagement pact for Depsang and Demchok, the last two friction points in eastern Ladakh, that Modi and Xi met in Kazan.

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India reiterated during the SR dialogue that there had to be a just, equitable, and mutually acceptable settlement of the overall boundary dispute between the two countries.

Both Doval and Wang further explored cross-border cooperation, which has now taken on "positive" color with the restarting of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, river data sharing, and border trade.

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The Indian view had remained that it is impossible for normal relations between the two nations without peace in the border regions.

The Indian and Chinese militaries have resumed their patrolling activities after nearly four-and-half years with the completion of the disengagement process from Demchok and Depsang.

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