China, India hope to ‘turn the page’ on Himalayan border tensions, push military-level talks

28th round of diplomatic talks on border issues was ‘comprehensive, in-depth and constructive’, Chinese foreign ministry says

Proposals tabled for ‘complete disengagement’, India says, as both sides aim for 21st round of commander-level border talks ‘at an early date’

2-MIN READ2-MIN

The Chinese military carries out a disengagement operation along the Line of Actual Control at the India-China border in Ladakh. Photo: AFP

Published: 8:00pm, 1 Dec 2023Updated: 2:44am, 2 Dec 2023

China and India hope to “turn the page” on tensions over prolonged stand-offs at their shared Himalayan border, with senior officials ready to push for a settlement of related matters.

This came as the two countries completed their 28th round of diplomatic talks on border issues, a meeting described as “constructive” by the Chinese foreign ministry.

The Chinese delegation to Thursday’s talks was led by Hong Liang, director general for boundary and oceanic affairs at China’s foreign ministry, while Gourangalal Das, joint secretary for East Asia at the Indian foreign ministry, led the team from New Delhi.

According to a statement from China’s foreign ministry, the two sides held “comprehensive, in-depth and constructive” discussions on issues involving the China-India border and affirmed the “positive progress” made in negotiations.

The two sides agreed to “maintain the momentum of diplomatic and military negotiations … promote the settlement of issues related to the border areas, and turn the page on the situation in the border areas at an early date”, the statement said.

Officials also agreed to improve the mechanism for negotiation and consultation, and to hold the 21st round of commander-level talks “at an early date”.