Doval, Yi begin India-China boundary talks in New Delhi

National Security Adviser Ajit Doval on December 21 began talks with Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in New Delhi on the India-China boundary issue.

This is the 22nd meeting of Special Representatives on the boundary question, and the first since the 2nd Informal Summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping in Chennai in October this year.

While there are no recent reports of confrontation between troops of the two sides along the 4,000-km disputed boundary on account of the "strategic guidance" from the respective political leadership, there has been no progress on the demarcation of the Line of Actual (LAC).

This is the 22nd meeting of Special Representatives on the boundary question, and the first since the 2nd Informal Summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping in Chennai in October this year

Meanwhile, the eighth edition of India-China joint training exercise Hand-in-Hand 2019 concluded on December 20 2019 at Umroi in Meghalaya. The company-level exercise was aimed at practicing the joint drills of counter-terrorism operations in a semi urban terrain under United Nation mandate. The exercise entailed firing of each other's weapons, conduct of tactical lectures & demonstration by both countries with respect to various aspects of counter- terrorism operations.

"The high joint training standards achieved by both contingents were on display during a 72-hour field training exercise which encompassed various drills requiring seamless integration of action of part of troops involved in the facets of counter-terrorism operations in conjunction with grueling methods to execute the assigned tasks," an Indian Army spokesperson stated.

The closing ceremony was reviewed by Major General JS Sandhu and Major General Li Shizong.