India, China hold crucial talks on border dispute

India and China held a new round of talks on their disputed borders on Friday, the first after a face-off between their armed forces at a Himalayan plateau this summer.
Indian National Security Adviser, Ajit Doval and Chinese State Councillor, Yang Jiechi led the delegations at the talks in New Delhi, foreign office spokesman, Raveesh Kumar, said.
This is the 20th round of talks of the special representatives on the decades-old boundary dispute between the neighbours.
Indian and Chinese troops were locked in a face-off at the Doklam Plateau, an uninhabited region claimed by both China and Bhutan, India’s ally, starting in mid-June.
The row, considered the most serious border confrontation between the Asian giants in years, ended in August after troops withdrew from the area following diplomatic talks.
India and China dispute several sections along their ill-defined 3,500-km border, most of which runs along the Himalayan range.
The two countries fought a war over their border in 1962.
During the day-long talks, the Doklam episode as well as unresolved boundary issues were discussed, media reports said.
India and China established a joint working group in 1988 to find a solution to the disagreements and appointed special representatives on the boundary dispute in 2003.
The last special representatives’ meeting was held in Beijing in April 2016.
“The discussion will be focused between the two special representatives on the boundary issue and we, of course, attach a lot of importance to this dialogue mechanism,” Kumar said.