Dealing with the Dragon

India-China ties show progress, but Delhi must not lose sight of Beijing's border ambitions

- 

The meeting of the Special Representatives for the India-China border issue produced signs of incremental progress in addressing the fallout of the four-year military standoff on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and restoring bilateral relations to an even keel. The Special Representatives, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and China's foreign minister Wang Yi discussed cross-border cooperation, including the resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra and border trade. The focus was on ensuring peace at the disputed border and learning from the events of 2020 when a bloody clash at Galwan Valley took ties to their lowest ebb in six decades. There was also emphasis on a "fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable framework" for resolving the boundary question. All of this