NSAs of India, China to meet in Hyderabad soon

The National Security Advisers of India and China will meet next week to discuss measures to improve bilateral ties which are strained by differences over a host of issues, including India’s admission into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and Beijing’s attempts to block a UN ban on Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar.

NSA Ajit Doval and his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi will meet in Hyderabad in the first week of November for informal dialogue on the state of bilateral relations, specially the irritants bedevilling the development of ties, officials said.

Besides blocking India’s admission into the NSG, China had put a second technical hold on India’s move to bring about a UN ban on Azhar. India has also been protesting over the $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which is being laid through the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

While India is concerned over the Pakistan factor creeping into India-China relations, making bilateral ties more complex, China is also airing its apprehensions over the movement to boycott Chinese goods in India as well the visit of Richard Verma, US ambassador to New Delhi, to Arunachal Pradesh, and India’s permission to allow the Dalai Lama to visit the area.

Chinese officials said Beijing is apprehensive about India moving closer to US and Japan.

Doval and Yang who are the designated Special Representatives of the India-China boundary talks, also periodically meet to discuss the whole gamut of the Sino-Indian relations.

Yang was the former foreign minister of China before he was elevated to the rank of State Councillor of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) after President Xi Jinping took over power in 2013.