official meeting between top Indian and Chinese officials

Doklam stand-off

Chinese president Xi Jinping

BEIJING: In the firstsince thebecame public, national security adviser Ajit Doval met state councillor Yang Jiechi here on Thursday, offering the possibility of serious diplomatic efforts to deescalate the confrontation.Yang, who as China’s state councillor overseeing foreign affairs occupies a powerful position in the state council, is the Chinese nominee in the India-China special representative level dialogue with Doval. An influential post, the state councillor is a member of the state council.Indications of how the bilateral meeting went could be gleaned by the commentary released by the official Xinhua news agency which sent out a conciliatory signal before Doval is expected to meeton Friday. It spoke of the need to enhance mutual trust as the two countries are “not born rivals”.The comments released by the official Xinhua news agency made a strong plea to avoid the possibility of a war. “Most economies, including those in the West, will find themselves negatively affected by an India-China war in a globalised and intertwined world today,” it said. In Delhi, the Indian government reminded China of the agreements on peace and tranquility that go back to 1993.Yang also held separate meetings with security officials of three other countries on the sidelines of a security dialogue of BRICS nations comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.He discussed issues concerning bilateral relations, international and regional issues and multilateral affairs with the visiting security officials, the official Xinhua news agency said.The remarks are a contrast to the hectoring tone in the comments published in publications like Global Times that are seen to reflect the views of the government.China’s official spokespersons have accused India of trespassing into Chinese territory, ignoring India’s protests that the face-off near the Sikkim-Tibet-Bhutan trijunction has been caused by unilateral attempts by China to alter the ground position.There are signs that the two neighbours might be able to scale down tensions that have spiked due to the military muscle flexing over China’s bid to build a road through a plateau in Bhutanese territory.This is the first time in weeks that the official media ran a commentary without demanding withdrawal of Indian troops from the disputed Doklam region. China has so far been insisting that troop withdrawal is a pre-condition to a “meaningful dialogue”.Doval reached Beijing on Thursday ahead of his planned meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and state counsellor Yang Jiechi on Friday.“The recent border issue between the two countries shows a lack of strategic trust on the Indian side,” Xinhua said.It is not China but a set of problems common to all developing countries like corruption, a lack of quality education and healthcare that is holding back India.“India must understand that China wishes what’s good for the Indian people and would love to see a strong India standing shoulder by shoulder with China,” Xinhua, which reflects the government’s thinking said, giving an emotional touch to the vexed relationship.Doval’s formal purpose of visiting Beijing is to attend a security dialogue of BRICS nations. He is expected to discuss the border standoff with Chinese leaders in separate meetings.Chinese foreign ministry has said that bilateral meetings are usually held during BRICS meetings and indirectly confirmed meetings on the border issue with Doval."Instead of being rivals, India and China have much more common ground, common interests and common aspirations. Both as developing countries, the two need to work together on important issues like fighting climate change, protectionism and the financial privileges of Washington," Xinhua said.It further said, "Hopefully, wisdom will guide the two countries to common prosperity. There is more than enough room for them to co-exist and thrive in Asia and in the world"."Both China and India need to enhance communication and nurture trust between them, first by recognizing that the two are not born rivals and that harboring ill will against each other is dangerous," Xinhua added.