Indian official meets Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister after WMCC talks

Beijing: A senior Indian diplomat, who led the Indian delegation at the WMCC talks, called on Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Hong Lei and exchanged views on China-India relations and the border situation between the two countries.

Gourangalal Das, Joint Secretary (East Asia) in the Ministry of External Affairs, led the Indian delegation at the 33rd Meeting of Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on China-India Border Affairs Tuesday and later called on Hong.

The two sides had an exchange of views on China-India relations, the border situation between the two countries, and other issues, a Chinese Foreign Ministry press release here said.

India and China Tuesday held a fresh edition of diplomatic talks in Beijing focusing on ensuring effective border management and early resumption of cross-border cooperation and exchanges including on trans-border rivers and Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra.

In the meeting of WMCC, the two sides explored various measures and proposals to give effect to the decisions taken during talks between NSA Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Special Representatives (SR) dialogue in December.

India and China also agreed to work together to make "substantial preparation" for the next SR meeting that will be held in India later this year, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

It said the meeting was held in a "positive and constructive" atmosphere and both sides "comprehensively" reviewed the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the border areas.

The MEA asserted that peace and tranquillity on the border are "critical" for the smooth development of overall bilateral relations.

A Chinese foreign ministry readout said the two sides held the WMCC meeting with a "positive, constructive and forward-looking" attitude.

The discussions focused on the implementation of the consensus reached at the 23rd SR dialogue on boundary negotiations, border control, cross-border exchanges and cooperation, it said.

They agreed to take practical and effective measures to continue to maintain peace and tranquillity in the China-India border area, and actively prepare for the next 24th meeting of the Special Representatives on the China-India boundary question, the readout said.