Doval to visit Beijing, uncertainty over talks on Doklam Plateau face-off

Beijing set withdrawal of Indian Army troops from the scene of a face-off at Doklam Plateau as a pre-condition for “meaningful dialogue” between the two sides. New Delhi made it clear that Indian Army too would withdraw troops, only if Chinese People's Liberation Army too did the same.

Doval, who is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's National Security Advisor, will be in Beijing on July 27 and 28. He will attend a meeting of the top security officials of the BRICS (a bloc comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).

Yang, the State Councillor of China, is hosting the multilateral meeting.

Though both Doval and Yang are respectively Special Representatives of India and China for negotiations to settle the dispute over the boundary, neither New Delhi nor Beijing has so far confirmed if they will discuss the current face-off between Indian Army and Chinese People's Liberation Army in Doklam Plateau in western Bhutan.

Doval's forthcoming visit to Beijing for the BRICS meeting next week was confirmed by the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, Gopal Baglay, on Thursday.

Baglay, however, stressed that Doval would be visiting to attend the BRICS national security advisors' meeting – a multilateral event. He, however, declined to comment on the possibility of his having a bilateral meeting with Yang or with other officials of Chinese Government in view of the current military face-off.

The Press Trust of India on Thursday quoted Lu Kang, a spokesperson for Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Chinese Government, saying in Beijing on that the diplomatic channel between India and China remained “unimpeded” and the withdrawal of the Indian Army troops were the pre-condition for any “meaningful dialogue and the communication between the two sides”.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told Parliament that New Delhi had suggested simultaneous withdrawal of Indian and Chinese troops from Doklam Plateau to set the stage for dialogue on the issue.

The Special Representatives of India and China have been holding negotiations since 2003 to resolve the long-pending boundary dispute. They reached an agreement in 2005 on the political parameters and guiding principles for the settlement of the dispute. They have since been engaged in talks on a framework, which will be followed by the actual demarcation of the border.

“India's approach is to have a peaceful resolution of issues on the border with China,” Baglay said on Thursday. Prime Minister and Chinese President Xi Jinping had agreed during a meeting in Astana in early June that the differences between India and China should not be allowed to become disputes, he added. “So, it is obvious that every responsible power, person and player in the world prefers peaceful resolution of matters,” said the MEA spokesperson.

Doval and Yang had held the 19th round of the parleys in Beijing in April 2016 and agreed that the 20th round would take place in New Delhi this year. The two Special Representatives for boundary negotiations, however, could meet even between two rounds of dialogues.