India, China agree to promptly avert any missteps on border | India News - Hindustan Times

**India, China Agree to Promptly Avert Any Missteps on Border**

New Delhi and Beijing concluded their 25th round of Special Representatives’ talks on the long‑standing boundary dispute with a joint commitment to “promptly avert any missteps” along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The meeting, held in Beijing on 23 March 2024, brought together India’s Special Representative for the Boundary Working Group, Dattatreya Padsalgikar, and his Chinese counterpart, Liu Jing, under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Both sides said they would strengthen on‑ground communication mechanisms, increase the frequency of hot‑line checks, and immediately inform each other of any troop movements that could be misinterpreted as provocative.

The dialogue built on a series of confidence‑building measures that have been negotiated since the 2020 disengagement at the Galwan Valley. In particular, the two countries revisited the eight‑point consensus reached during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s and President Xi Jinping’s 2023 summit, which emphasised “peaceful coexistence, mutual respect for sovereignty and the avoidance of unilateral actions”. The latest talks also echoed the “early‑harvest” approach championed in recent high‑level exchanges between India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, aiming for incremental, issue‑specific agreements that can be implemented quickly while broader talks continue.

While the statements were diplomatic, analysts note that the agreement does not resolve the core territorial claims that divide the two neighbours. Both governments have pledged to pursue “early‑harvest” outcomes, such as finalising protocols on patrol routes and joint verification of maps in contested sectors of the western and eastern LAC. The next round of Special Representatives’ talks is slated for later this year, with observers watching for concrete steps that could translate the rhetoric into tangible de‑escalation on the ground.