Top diplomats from China and India will meet next week in Beijing as the nuclear-armed neighbors try to repair ties marred by a border dispute nearly five years ago.
India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri will meet his Chinese counterpart during a two-day trip to Beijing starting Sunday, India’s External Affairs Ministry said on Thursday.
“The resumption of this bilateral mechanism flows from the agreement at the leadership level to discuss the next steps for India-China relations, including in the political, economic, and people-to-people domains,” the ministry said in a statement.
Diplomatic and economic relations between the two countries plunged after June 2020 when clashes between soldiers along the border left at least 20 Indian and an unknown number of Chinese troops dead. As the relations soured, the two countries moved thousands of troops, missiles and fighter jets along parts of the 3,488 kilometer (2,167 mile) unmarked border. India also imposed strict rules on Chinese businesses seeking to invest in the country, banned hundreds of Chinese apps and slowed visa approvals.
In October, the two nations agreed to stabilize relations after Chinese President Xi Jinping and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi met at the BRICS summit in Russia. India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing last December and the two sides agreed to refine the rules for border management, and enhance confidence-building measures to achieve sustainable peace and stability in the border areas.