BEIJING: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit India next week for talks about their shared boundary, Beijing’s foreign ministry said on Saturday, as the two countries consider resuming border trade after a five-year halt.
Foreign Minister Wang will visit India on Delhi’s invitation from Monday until Wednesday for “the 24th special representatives meeting on the China-India border issue”, a spokesperson said in a statement.
Past trade between the neighbours across icy, high-altitude Himalayan border passes was usually small in volume, but any resumption is significant for its symbolism.
This is only the second such meeting since a deadly clash in 2020 between Indian and Chinese troops at the border.
Relations between the two countries have been thawing since an agreement last October on patrolling their Himalayan border, easing a five-year standoff that had hurt trade, investment, and air travel.
Indian media reported this week that Wang was expected to hold talks in New Delhi on Monday.
He will meet Indian national security adviser Ajit Doval, New Delhi’s foreign ministry confirmed in a statement on Saturday.
Wang will also hold talks with his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, who visited Beijing in July, the statement said.
India has moved to mend ties with China after being caught up in global trade and geopolitical turbulence triggered by US President Donald Trump’s tariff blitz.
Trump imposed a 50 percent tariff on Indian exports to the United States – one of the highest levels among Washington’s strategic partners.
Meanwhile, the United States and China last week extended a tariff truce for another 90 days, staving off triple-digit duties on each other’s goods.
Chinese and Indian officials have said in recent weeks that the two countries were discussing the resumption of border trade.
China and India have already agreed to resume direct flights suspended since 2020 and are discussing easing trade barriers, including reopening border trade at three Himalayan crossings.
