Doval was speaking during the 24th round of Special Representatives dialogue on the boundary question with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at Hyderabad House here.
Photo: IANS
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Tuesday said India-China relations have witnessed an “upward trend” in the past nine months, and that there has been peace and tranquility along the borders since the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kazan last year.
Doval was speaking during the 24th round of Special Representatives dialogue on the boundary question with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at Hyderabad House here.
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During the talks, the NSA also officially announced that PM Modi will be visiting China to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit which will be held in Tianjin on August 31 and September 1.
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“Our Prime Minister will be visiting for the SCO summit shortly. Therefore, I think that this as high-level talks assume a very special importance,” Doval said.
In his remarks during the talks, the NSA appreciated the last round of meeting held in Beijing and said, “I’m very happy that since then in the last 9 months, there has been an upwards 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,” the NSA said.
He said 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 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.
During the talks, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said he is “heartened” to see the stabilisation of India-China ties and peace along the borders, stressing that Beijing attaches “great importance” to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming visit to China for the SCO Summit.
Wang Yi said the setbacks in India-China ties in recent years were “not in the interest of the people of both countries”.
“I am very pleased to meet you again in New Delhi for this round of talks between the special representatives of China and India on the boundary question. The setbacks we experienced in the past few years were not in the interests of the people of our two countries.
“And then in October last year, President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Modi had an important meeting in Kazan. That meeting pointed the direction for the development of our bilateral relations and provided impetus for the proper settlement of the boundary question,” Wang Yi said in his opening remarks at the meeting.
He also emphasised that PM Modi’s visit next month would contribute to the success of the SCO Summit in Tianjin.
“The Chinese side attaches great importance to the Prime Minister’s visit to China to attend the SCO summit at our invitation. We believe that the Indian side will also make a contribution to a successful summit in Tianjin. History and reality prove once again that a healthy and stable China-India relationship serves the fundamental and long-term interests of both of our countries. It is also what developing countries all want to see,” Wang Yi said.
Wang Yi arrived in India on Monday for a two-day official visit and held talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
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