India and China on Monday reviewed the bilateral relations and agreed to take certain people-centric steps to stabilize and rebuild ties. The decision comes at a meeting between Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri—who is in Beijing for a two-day visit—and Chinese Vice Foreign Minister H.E. Sun Weidong.
Misri earlier met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with the visiting India's Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Monday in Beijing. Wang said China and India should seize the opportunity to meet each other halfway, explore more substantive measures, and commit themselves to mutual… pic.twitter.com/TMAlqbH23q
— Xu Feihong (@China_Amb_India) January 27, 2025
The two sides decided to resume the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra this year and the relevant mechanism will discuss the modalities for doing so as per existing agreements, said a release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs.
“They also agreed to hold an early meeting of the India-China Expert Level Mechanism to discuss resumption of provision of hydrological data and other cooperation pertaining to trans-border rivers,” it said.
In order to enhance air connectivity, both Beijing and New Delhi agreed to resume direct flight services between the two countries.The relevant technical authorities on the two sides will meet and negotiate an updated framework for this purpose at an early date, the MEA said.
The two sides will conduct a number of commemorative activities to mark the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and China. They agreed that the occasion should be utilised to redouble public diplomacy efforts to create better awareness about each other and restore mutual trust and confidence among the public.
Besides, Beijing and New Delhi took stock of the extant mechanisms for functional exchanges and agreed to resume dialogues to address each other’s priority areas of interest and concern.
“Specific concerns in the economic and trade areas were discussed with a view to resolving these issues and promoting long-term policy transparency and predictability,” the MEA said.
The two sides also agreed to take measures to further promote and facilitate people-to-people exchanges, including media and think-tank interactions.
The visit of Misri, who was also the former Ambassador to China, is taking place on Republic Day ahead of the celebrations of China's Spring Festival and the Chinese New Year, beginning on January 29.
