India and China held “constructive” and “forward-looking” talks on the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, with both sides underlining that maintaining peace and tranquillity along the border is crucial for the gradual normalisation of bilateral ties.
The discussions took place during a meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) in Beijing on Wednesday, amid ongoing efforts by the two countries to reset relations strained by the 2020 Galwan Valley clashes and the prolonged military standoff in eastern Ladakh.
"The discussions were constructive and forward looking," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, a day after the talks.
"The two sides reviewed the situation in the India-China border areas. They expressed satisfaction with the progress made in maintaining peace and tranquillity in the border areas, which has enabled progress towards gradual normalization of bilateral relations," the MEA said.
The two sides also agreed to work together to make "substantive preparation" for the next meeting of the Special Representatives (SR) to be held in China.
In August last year, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held the Special Representatives dialogue in New Delhi, which produced several outcomes aimed at maintaining peace along the border.
"The two sides discussed issues pertaining to delimitation, border management, mechanism building and cross-border cooperation," the MEA said on the WMCC meeting.
It said the Indian side stressed an early meeting of the next expert-level mechanism on trans-border rivers.
"Both sides agreed to maintain regular exchanges and contacts at the diplomatic and military levels through mechanisms including those that were agreed as part of outcomes of 24th Special Representative talks," the MEA said in a statement.
The Indian delegation was led by Sujit Ghosh, Joint Secretary (East Asia) in the MEA, while the Chinese delegation was headed by Hou Yanqi, Director General of the Boundary and Oceanic Affairs Department of the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
During the visit, Ghosh also met Liu Jinsong, Director at the Chinese Foreign Ministry's Department of Asian Affairs, and made a courtesy call on Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Hong Lei.
The WMCC meeting comes as New Delhi and Beijing continue efforts to stabilise ties after years of tensions along the border.
Following a series of diplomatic and military negotiations, the two countries disengaged troops from several friction points along the LAC in eastern Ladakh. In October 2024, India and China finalised a disengagement pact for Depsang and Demchok, the last two remaining friction points in the region.
Days after the agreement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Kazan and took several decisions aimed at improving bilateral relations.
In August last year, Modi travelled to the Chinese city of Tianjin to attend the annual SCO summit, where he held extensive talks with Xi on the sidelines of the gathering.
During the meeting, Modi said India is committed to taking forward ties with China based on mutual trust, respect and sensitivity.