Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday provided “positive directions” for the resumption of border trade, the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra and data sharing on trans-border rivers, the Ministry of External Affairs said.

Doval and Yi met in Beijing in what was the first meeting of the special representatives of the two countries in five years.

The two drew on the “learnings” from the four-year military standoff between the two sides along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh to discuss measures to maintain peace on the border, the ministry said in a statement.

The statement added that the leaders had “positively affirmed” the implementation of the disengagement agreement reached in October, which resulted in “patrolling and grazing in relevant areas”.

A statement by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday said the two sides had reached a “six-point consensus” on peace-building efforts to improve bilateral relations, the South China Morning Post reported.

Border tensions between India and China escalated in June 2020 when a violent face-off between Indian and Chinese soldiers took place in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley along the Line of Actual Control. It led to the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers. Beijing said that the clash left four of its soldiers dead.

Following this, both countries deployed thousands of troops along with heavy artillery in the region.

Since the Galwan clashes, China and India have held several rounds of military and diplomatic talks to resolve their border standoff.

In October, the two countries announced that they had reached a patrolling arrangement along the Line of Actual Control, “leading to the disengagement” of the two militaries in eastern Ladakh.

The broad topics of consensus in the meeting on Wednesday were on reaffirming commitments to continue to work towards resolving the border tensions and “to further refine the management and control rules in the border area”.

Also read: Why the India-China agreement does not mean a return to status quo