After India and China inked an agreement for setting up a joint working mechanism to ensure “peace and tranquillity” along the undelineated Line of Actual Control between the two countries on Tuesday, foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai told reporters, “We have established a working mechanism on consultation and coordination on India-China border affairs.”
“It’s a mechanism between the two foreign ministries which will ensure that anything happening on the border is immediately referred to higher-level authorities so that we maintain the relative peace and tranquillity that exists along the border,” Mr Mathai added. He said the issue of stapled visas did not come up for discussion. “In the China-India boundary negotiations, although we have not yet arrived at the summit, that is we have not reached full agreement, the framework of settlement of the boundary question, we have scaled much height and made much progress,” Chinese state councillor Dai Bingguo had said on Monday.
Any intrusions or transgressions along the border will be dealt with by this mechanism. The agreement itself notes that till the boundary question between the two countries is resolved, peace along the border “is very significant for enhancing mutual trust and security.”
The mechanism, however, will not look at the larger issue of evolving a frame-work for the resolution of the boundary question which is the mandate of the special representatives. The resolution of the boundary dispute is expected to take a long time. The two sides have also agreed to prepare a joint record if the progress made thus far in discussions between them on the boundary question. The talks also made a “positive appraisal of the current state of bilateral relations” and recognised the “importance of regular high-level exchanges and strengthened cooperation across different areas.”