India-China ties on upward trend, borders quiet: NSA Doval tells Wang Yi

New Delhi, Aug 19 (IANS) National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval on Tuesday said that India-China relations have witnessed an "upward trend" and that the borders have remained peaceful since the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kazan last year.

The Chinese Foreign Minister arrived in India late Monday afternoon on a two-day visit to deliberate on a range of key issues, including the border situation, trade and resumption of flight services.

Doval made the remarks during the 24th round of Special Representatives (SR) dialogue on the boundary question with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at Hyderabad House in New Delhi.

"There has been an upward trend. Borders have been quiet. There has been peace and tranquillity. Our bilateral engagements have been more substantial. And we are most grateful to our leaders who, in Kazan last October, were able to set a new trend, and we have profited a lot since then," Doval said.

He noted that the "new environment" created by the Kazan talks has helped both sides move ahead in several areas of cooperation.

Expressing optimism about the current round of talks, Doval said that India hopes this 24th SR-level dialogue will be "equally successful" as last year's and will hold "special importance" during the Prime Minister's visit to China for the SCO Summit next month.

Highlighting that this year marks the 75th anniversary of India-China diplomatic relations, Doval said it was a "time to celebrate".

"With this new energy and the new momentum, with your personal efforts and with the maturity and sense of responsibility of our diplomatic teams, ambassadors, and also our armies on the borders, we have been able to make it this time," the NSA added.

Earlier on Monday, the Chinese Foreign Minister met External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar. During this, EAM Jaishankar emphasised that it is essential that the process of de-escalation moves forward, adding that the basis for any momentum in India-China ties remains the ability to jointly maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas.

--IANS

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