India-China boundary talks to be held tomorrow

New Delhi, Dec 20: The next meeting between special representatives of India and China on the boundary question will be held on Saturday, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Friday.

While the Chinese delegation will be led by its Foreign Minister Wang Yi, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval will head the Indian team at boundary talks, it said.

Wang's visit to India will be the first high-level one from China after the Modi-Xi informal meeting in October as well as after New Delhi pulled out of the RCEP following a meeting of the group's leadership in Bangkok recently.

"The 22nd meeting of the Special Representatives (SR) for India-China boundary question will be held in New Delhi December 21," the MEA said.

Doval and Wang are the designated Special Representatives of the two countries for the boundary talks. Sources said the two sides are likely to review implementation of decisions taken at the second informal summit between Modi and Chinese President Xi in October. Wang was to visit India for the SR talks in September but the trip was postponed then.

The two sides have already held over 20 rounds of talks under the framework of SR dialogue which was set up to find an early solution to the border dispute. The India-China border dispute covers 3,488-km-long Line of Actual Control. China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of southern Tibet while India contests it.

Both sides have been asserting that pending the final resolution of the boundary issue, it is necessary to maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas.