New Delhi:
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval was cordial and “forward looking” but at the same time insisted on “timely and visible action” on the ground during his two-hour conversation with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, which led to the easing of nearly two-month long tensions along the Line of Actual Control, officials said Monday.
Doval, a 1968 batch IPS officer who rose to become Intelligence Bureau chief before being nominated as NSA by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, has been designated India’s Special Representative on Sino-Indian border issues for his negotiation skills. The officials said the focus of the talks was on “full and enduring restoration of peace and tranquillity” along the border and also better coordination to ensure avoidance of such incidents in future.
The discussions were held in a “free and frank manner”, and the two sides agreed that the respective army commanders would work out the modalities for maintenance of peace along the LAC. The two representatives agreed on maintaining and promoting normal exchanges and cooperation and safeguarding overall Sino-India relations, the officials said.
Doval and Wang agreed that diplomatic and military officials of the two sides should continue their discussions under the framework of the Working Mechanism and Coordination on India-China border affairs. During the past many weeks, Doval, perceived as a crisis man, had been using back channel diplomacy to ease tensions between the two countries. In the past, his services have been utilised in tense situations, including in August last year when the Centre revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and during the communal riots in the national capital earlier this year.
