China: Will ‘break new ground’ in border talks
China said on Friday it was ready to “break new ground” with India to resolve the boundary dispute as their special representatives discussed the proposed Border Defence Cooperation Agreement (BDCA) against the backdrop of the recent Chinese incursion in Ladakh.
Meeting for the first time after the May incident, the special representatives of the two countries held the 16th round of boundary negotiations here, seeking to speed up accelerate settlement of the vexed dispute.
India’s designated special representative, national security adviser Shivshankar Menon held the first round of the two-day talks with his new Chinese counterpart, Yang Jiechi, in a “cordial and friendly atmosphere”, a spokesman said.
“I stand ready to work with you to build on the work of our predecessors and break new ground to strive for the settlement of the China-India boundary question and to make greater progress in the China-India strategic and cooperative partnership in the new period,” Mr Yang Jiechi said.
Providing a broader perspective, Mr Menon, an old China hand, said the talks focused on strengthening the mechanism to keep peace and tranquillity on the border, in the backdrop of the recent Chinese incursion that set off a major diplomatic crisis. Mr Menon said the BDCA will be discussed further when defence minister A.K. Antony visits Beijing July 4-7. He said both sides exchanged views on the BDCA. “There was a broad measure of agreement, but we still have to do a little bit of work on the text itself,” he said.
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