India and China on Wednesday discussed resuming dialogue mechanisms between the two nations “in a step-by-step manner,” focusing on “each other’s priority areas of interest and concern,” according to a statement from India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
During a meeting in Beijing between Gourangalal Das, Joint Secretary (East Asia) from India’s Ministry of External Affairs, and Liu Jinsong, Director General of the Department of Asian Affairs at China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, both sides acknowledged the progress made in bilateral relations following the October 2024 meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping in Kazan.
Since that meeting, both countries’ foreign ministers have met twice, and Special Representatives on the India-China boundary issue have held their 23rd round of talks. “These high-level meetings have provided strategic guidance to stabilize and further develop relations,” the MEA said.
According to the ministry, the two sides reviewed the measures undertaken to implement the strategic decisions agreed upon during the January 2025 meeting between India’s Foreign Secretary, Vikram Misri, and China’s Vice Foreign Minister, Hua Chunying.
Key areas of discussion included enhancing people-to-people exchanges, resuming direct flights, increasing media and think tank collaboration, and commemorating the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties between India and China. They also made progress toward resuming the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra pilgrimage in 2025.
On Tuesday, Das participated in the 33rd meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) in Beijing, where he met with Hong Liang, Director General of the Boundary & Oceanic Affairs Department at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The meeting, described by the MEA as “positive and constructive,” focused on reviewing the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the India-China border area