India, China to hold talks on Border dispute today

Special Representatives of India and China will hold the 18th round of talks on the border dispute in New Delhi today. This is the first time that the government will engage with China on the border issue after Ajit Doval was appointed Special Representative in November last year.

Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi, who leads the delegation, is also likely to meet Prime Minster Narendar Modi and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval tomorrow.

The two countries share an ill-defined 4,057km (2,520 miles) border and fought a brief war in 1962. The neighbours were involved in a bitter two-week stand-off near their de facto border in September 2014.

Tensions flare up from time to time and numerous rounds of border talks have been unsuccessful so far.

The bilateral talks come a year after the last round of Special Representative talks, and six months after Mr. Modi had raised serious concerns about incidents of transgressions along the India-China border.

Since taking over as Prime Minister last year, Mr Modi has spoken of his desire for better relations with China and called for an early settlement of the border dispute.

In September during his visit to India, Chinese President Xi Jinping said he was committed to working with India to maintain “peace and tranquility”.