Tanmay Kadam
The trajectory of Sino-Indian relations in recent months has raised expectations of a potential thaw between the two countries. Nothing wrong with seeking stable relations with neighbors but New Delhi should exercise caution, as the discourse within the Chinese strategic community has been suggestive of further deterioration of relations in the coming months.
Officials from Indian and China held the 30th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) in New Delhi on July 31st, to discuss the “early resolution of the outstanding issues” in their ongoing stand-off along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
The meeting comes days after talks held between the Indian External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on July 25, on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Laos, where the two had decided on an “early meeting” of the WMCC for the speedy resolution of the border dispute.
The EAM Jaishankar had expressed hope that the meeting on July 25 would allow the two ministers to “give stronger guidance” to officials to complete the disengagement process which had “cast a shadow” over India-China ties.
Most notably, the meeting between the Indian and Chinese foreign ministers on July 25 was the second such meeting between the two in less than a month, and the occurrence of the 30th WMCC meeting mere days after that is indicative of a sense of urgency in efforts to resolve the border issue.
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