INDIA, CHINA FOCUS ON BORDER PEACE

BEIJING: A closer developmental partnership and efforts to keep the disputed border firmly and decisively peaceful were apparently the focus of Sino-Indian talks on the boundary issue in China’s Chengdu on Saturday.

National Security Advisor AK Doval and China’s state councillor and foreign minister Wang Yi — the special representatives (SRs) for the border issue under a mechanism put in place in 2003 — discussed firming up “confidence-building measures” between border personnel to promote exchanges and communication. The two top officials acknowledged the importance of “predictability” in managing the 3,488-km disputed border and maintaining strategic communication to keep it peaceful, an official statement from the Indian side said. No more army standoffs like Doklam seemed to be the underlined understanding between the two parties. A peaceful frontier until a permanent solution means calmer diplomacy, which could then be directed to look at common goals and iron out differences in other spheres.

“The special representatives agreed that pending the final resolution of the boundary question, it is important to maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas and to ensure that the border question does not affect the overall development of the bilateral relationship,” it said.