Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri will travel to Beijing on Sunday (January 26, 2025). This indicates that India and China are reviving all dialogue mechanisms after a four-year break in military standoff at the Line of Actual Control (LAC). .
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The meeting follows an October 21 agreement to end the standoff at the LAC that was ratified by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping during a summit in Russia, followed by an agreement between foreign ministers and two defense ministers. A meeting ensued between. country. Special representatives on border questions – National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met in Beijing last month.
Mr. Misri, who served as India’s ambassador to Beijing (2019-2021) and deputy national security advisor (2021-2024), will meet China’s deputy entry minister Sun Weidong. ).
important issues
Among the issues scheduled to be discussed is the resumption of direct flights between India and China, which have remained suspended since the pandemic. Issuing visas especially for business people and journalists. Solving trade problems. Arrangements for resumption of Mansarovar Yatra for pilgrims.
“The resumption of this bilateral mechanism flows from an agreement at the leadership level to discuss the next steps in India-China relations, including political, economic and people-to-people domains,” the Ministry of External Affairs said. said in a statement. , indicating that lectures are part of a resurgence of regular dialogue.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not commented on the visit so far. On Tuesday (21 January 2025), a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson had said that India and China must “deliver” the understanding reached between Xi Jinping and Modi.
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“View and process the bilateral relations from a strategic height and long-term perspective, return the relations to a healthy and stable development trajectory, and find the right path for the big neighboring countries to harmonize and develop their sides. Must be attacked along the line, spokesman Guo Jiaqun said in Beijing.
Misri will be in Beijing on January 26th and 27th. He will leave after the Republic Parade in New Delhi, where Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto will be the chief guest, officials said.
The foreign secretary’s visit comes just before the Chinese New Year holiday, which begins on January 28. India’s ambassador to China, Xu Feihong, is already in Beijing and is understood to be preparing for the visit.
At a New Year’s reception in Delhi this week, China’s Charge Diary Wang Lei said India and China are holding “dozens” of celebratory events and establishing diplomatic ties between China and India. It will be the 75th anniversary since. He also said that economic exchanges between India and China have increased by 2% in the past year, with trade figures reaching $126.6 billion in the first 11 months of 2024, with 2,80,000 visas issued in the year. I pointed out that.
quite nervous
However, the two sides also face considerable tension over economic and visa issues, with recent reports indicating that Chinese manufacturers are selling technology and exports to India, including tunnel boring machines made in China and Germany. It is suggested that tax is withheld at source. Beijing has also asked New Delhi to issue more visas and promote travel links.
Despite declarations after talks between Jaishankar and Wang over visas, flights and resumption of Mansarovar Yatra for pilgrims in November 2024, there has been little movement on the issues so far It was. Additionally, Chinese hydropower projects in the upper riparian areas of the Brahmaputra River (Itozangpo, Tibet) have raised concerns about downstream flooding.
“I must tell you that resetting the ties will require a lot of effort as the accumulated insecurities remain on both border and economic issues,” said former Ambassador (2014-2016) Ashok Kanta told The Hindu.
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“Army chiefs have said that borders are not that normal and we cannot go back to business-as-a-business conversations about resuming travel and visas without progress on borders,” he said, adding that India has no concerns. He added that hydropower projects must be taken “more seriously” during Misri’s visit.
Significantly, Misri’s visit to Beijing comes days after Jaishankar’s visit to Washington, where Secretary of State Marco Rubio convened a meeting of the Quad foreign ministers.
On Wednesday (January 22, 2025), China reacted to the quarterly joint statement against “coercion” in the Indo-Pacific, saying a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that “the group’s politics… I won’t encourage it.” Multilateral cooperation “should not target third parties.”
public – January 23, 2025 09:13 PM IST
