Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi are understood to have held talks on Friday focusing on the situation in Eastern Ladakh and the geopolitical implꦰications of the conflict in Ukraine.
Wang and Doval serve as the Special Representatives of their💃 respective countries for boundary talks and the issue of border is understood to have figured prominently in their meeting, according to PTI.
Wang arrived in Delhi on Thursday evening in the high❀est-level visit between the two countries after the ties came under severe strain foll🌜owing the military standoff in Eastern Ladakh that began nearly two years ago.
The Chinese foreign minister arrived at Doval's office for talks🐬 at around 10 am. However, there is no official word on the meetin🥀g.
Wang is scheduled to meet his Indian cou൲ꦓnterpart S Jaishankar after his talks with Doval.
Doval and Wang he𒈔ld a lengthy telephonic conversation in July 2020 and the talks focused on bringing down tensi𓂃on in Eastern Ladakh.
India and China have been holding high-level military talks to resolve the face-off in the remaining friction points in Eastern Ladakh. Both sides withdre൩w troops already from some of the frictio♌n points following the talks.
On March 11, India and China held the 15th round of high-level military dialogue to resolve the pending issues in the Eastern Ladakh region. However, there was no forward movement in the talks wh🅰♒ich were aimed at resolving the remaining issues.
The border standoff between the Indian and Chinese milita🐼ries erupted on May 5, 2020, following a violent clash in the Pangong lake areas.
The face-off escalated after the Galwan Valley clashes on June 15, 2༒020. As many as 20 Indian soldiers and an unspecified number of Chinese troops were killed in the clashes.
Both sides gradually enhanced their depl🦩oyment by ru♒shing in tens of thousands of soldiers as well as heavy weaponry.
As a result ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚof a series of military and diplomatic talks, the two sides completed the disengagement process last year in the north and south banks of the Pangong lake and in the Gogra area. Each side currently has around 50,000 to 60,000 troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the sensitive sector.
With PTI inputs
