Border Mechanism Talks Between India And China Conclude

Final Settlement Needed: Border Mechanism Talks Between India And China Conclude

India and China ended a series of 2 day talks on border mechanisms. During the meeting, the two countries discussed how to prevent recurrence of army standoffs and consensus as well as implementation of CBMs or confidence building measures. Following the conclusion of the talks, the Ministry of External Affairs indicated that confidence building measures between the two nations included regular interaction between Army headquarters as well as field commands of the two sides, according to media reports.

The two nations also agreed to come up with more border personnel meeting points as well as telecommunication linkages between forward posts of the sides at locations that have been mutually agreed, according to a report by DNA. The Framework of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs was the umbrella under which the talks were held.

These talks chiefly concentrated around areas such as peace and tranquility in Indo-China border areas. "These measures are expected to assist in the timely and effective management of situations that may arise on the border," DNA quoted the Indian Ministry has having said. The ministry also indicated that both countries also discussed the stand-offs and indicated this was one of the key instruments for the resolution of the boundary issues, according to the media.

The delegation on the Indian side was led by Pradeep Kumar Rawat, Joint Secretary of East Asia and reps from the MEA as well as the Ministry of Defence and Home Affairs besides members of the Indo-Tibetan border police and the Indian Army. Ouyang Yujing who is the Director General at the Department of Boundary and Oceanic Affairs at the Chinese MEA led the other side along with reps from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and National Defence.

This is the first interaction between these two sides following the formation of the NDA government at the centre and China's adverse reaction to Indian plans to construct a road network across McMahon line in Arunachal Pradesh. The Chinese government also requested the Indian government to refrain from takin action that may complicate the issue in the future.

For India, the priority issues were the Chinese incursion which lasted for around 3 weeks in Demchok and Chumar. The incursion became the key area of discussion during the talks. Serious concerns have already been raised about the repeated incidents but not much is known about how matters will progress right now. There are many issues which need to be taken into account before a final settlement is in sight. LOC incursions are a serious threat to the national sovereignty of India.