India and China on Saturday agreed to hold the technical level dialogue to find ways for New Delhi's entry into the elite 48-member elite Nuclear Supplier Group (NSG) and also agreed to set up a mechanism at the level of foreign secretaries to strengthen bilateral relations. Both countries already possess a mechanism at the level of special representatives to discuss border issues.
Ahead of two summit level meetings, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be face-to-face with the Chinese leadership in a span of next two months, visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday held a three-hour long discussion with his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj on bilateral, regional and global developments and also reviewing preparations for the BRICS summit, scheduled in October in Goa. Wang, who also called on the Prime Minister, briefed him on the G20, to be held in China in September.
Since this was the first high-level bilateral interaction after recent strains in the relationship after New Delhi's failure to become a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) - officially attributed to Beijing's opposition - official sources here said that both sides held lengthy discussion on the issue. Swaraj outlined importance of meeting our clean energy goals in the context of COP-21 and offered to discuss any technical issues to address to China's concerns. Both sides later agreed to conduct a meeting of director generals of disarmament of two countries soon to sort out difficulties.
China's technical hold on listing of Masood Azhar in the UNSC 1267 Committee was also taken up. Swaraj urged China to revisit its technical hold, in line with its own professed zero tolerance towards terrorism. She also conveyed India's concerns on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
Both sides also reviewed the border situation and decided to measures to strengthen peace and tranquillity. A new mechanism at level of Foreign Secretaries will be set up to discuss ties. There was, however, no discussion on the South China sea, as no one brought it to the table.
This was also the first high-level bilateral interaction after the meeting between the Prime Minister Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting in Tashkent. Thereafter, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley visited China, but that was for a meeting of the board of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
The last meeting of these two foreign ministers was in Moscow during the Russia-India-China trilateral summit in April. Since then tensions between the neighbours have increased, on the issue of terrorism, China's technical hold in a UN committee on Masood Azhar, the proclaimed "terrorist" in Pakistan, India's position on the South China Sea, and also the 48-member NSG's plenary in June in Seoul, which rejected India's membership bid on the grounds that it was not a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
In the weeks since then, China, for the first time, expressed concern over the "casualties" and violence in Kashmir, which was seen in New Delhi as a needless provocation. And, last month, Chinese troops had "transgressed" the border on land and by air in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand state.
Ahead of two summit level meetings, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be face-to-face with the Chinese leadership in a span of next two months, visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday held a three-hour long discussion with his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj on bilateral, regional and global developments and also reviewing preparations for the BRICS summit, scheduled in October in Goa. Wang, who also called on the Prime Minister, briefed him on the G20, to be held in China in September.
Since this was the first high-level bilateral interaction after recent strains in the relationship after New Delhi's failure to become a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) - officially attributed to Beijing's opposition - official sources here said that both sides held lengthy discussion on the issue. Swaraj outlined importance of meeting our clean energy goals in the context of COP-21 and offered to discuss any technical issues to address to China's concerns. Both sides later agreed to conduct a meeting of director generals of disarmament of two countries soon to sort out difficulties.
China's technical hold on listing of Masood Azhar in the UNSC 1267 Committee was also taken up. Swaraj urged China to revisit its technical hold, in line with its own professed zero tolerance towards terrorism. She also conveyed India's concerns on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
Both sides also reviewed the border situation and decided to measures to strengthen peace and tranquillity. A new mechanism at level of Foreign Secretaries will be set up to discuss ties. There was, however, no discussion on the South China sea, as no one brought it to the table.
This was also the first high-level bilateral interaction after the meeting between the Prime Minister Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting in Tashkent. Thereafter, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley visited China, but that was for a meeting of the board of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
The last meeting of these two foreign ministers was in Moscow during the Russia-India-China trilateral summit in April. Since then tensions between the neighbours have increased, on the issue of terrorism, China's technical hold in a UN committee on Masood Azhar, the proclaimed "terrorist" in Pakistan, India's position on the South China Sea, and also the 48-member NSG's plenary in June in Seoul, which rejected India's membership bid on the grounds that it was not a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
In the weeks since then, China, for the first time, expressed concern over the "casualties" and violence in Kashmir, which was seen in New Delhi as a needless provocation. And, last month, Chinese troops had "transgressed" the border on land and by air in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand state.