India names Ajit Doval as special envoy for China border talks

[sorcerer]

India names Ajit Doval as special envoy for China border talks
:clap:
India has named its powerful National Security Adviser as a special envoy on China, opening the way for resumption of talks on the disputed border, where tensions have risen in recent months over border patrols and stiffer defences.


Ajit Doval, a close aide of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will lead the negotiations with Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi to try and reach a settlement on dispute over the 3,500-km border that has clouded rapidly-expanding commercial links.

In September, the two armies were locked in a faceoff in the Ladakh sector in the western Himalayas just as Chinese President Xi Jinping was visiting India for the first summit talks with Prime Minister Modi.
Both leaders vowed to work together to resolve the border row that has defied a solution even after 17 rounds of high level talks over the last decade.
Mr Doval, seen as a hardliner on national security issues, will conduct boundary negotiations as well as strategic consultations with China, the PM's office said in a statement

Chinese border patrols have been intruding deeper into India's side of the border, in a sign of assertiveness that has fuelled concern in the region.
China lays claim to more than 90,000 sq km (35,000 sq miles) disputed by New Delhi in the eastern sector of the Himalayas. India says China occupies 38,000 square km (14,600 sq miles) of its territory on the Aksai Chin plateau in the west.
New Delhi has vowed to beef up defences along the border to narrow the gap with China's network of roads and communication links. Beijing has expressed concern about India's plan to build roads and border outposts in Arunachal Pradesh in the east.
India names Ajit Doval as special envoy for China border talks - News - Politics - Russian Radio

 

[Otm Shank2]

is it normal protocol for a spymaster to act as a diplomat or high level leader?

Seems like a person you'd want to keep insulated especially from an enemy.

 

[Otm Shank2]

Sorry to be pesky but really interested in thoughts on that.

The greats like Kao seemed to keep to themselves

from wiki

"An intensely private man, Kao was rarely seen in public post-retirement, and was photographed only twice throughout his life."

 

[nrupatunga]

Negotiating with China: Doval's task is cut out

Since 2003, in 17 rounds of talks, India and China have relied on quiet diplomacy between a top official from either side to resolve their thorny territorial dispute. Termed 'Special Representatives' or SRs, these negotiators -- who must enjoy the confidence of their national leaders -- are mandated to bypass the endless technical wrangling of diplomats, bureaucrats and soldiers.

On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that National Security Advisor Ajit Doval would "conduct boundary negotiations and strategic consultations with China".

Doval will be India's fifth SR; after Brajesh Mishra (2003-04); J N Dixit (2004-05); M K Narayanan (2005-10) and Shivshankar Menon (2010-14). For a decade, China's SR was the redoubtable Dai Bingguo, who has been lauded by Henry Kissinger and Zbigniew Brzezinsky. Dai retired last year, to be succeeded by Yang Jiechi.

Modi had first offered the job of SR to a former foreign secretary and respected Sinologist, Shyam Saran, who declined. The rank of principal secretary that Saran was offered was two ranks below his Chinese interlocutor, Yang Jiechi, who holds the rank of state councillor -- one rung above a minister.

Doval has accepted the challenge at his current rank of principal secretary. He will now negotiate with Yang Jiechi to decide ownership of some 1,30,000 square kilometres of territory that both countries claim. This is spread across three areas -- (a) The uninhabited western sector in Ladakh, where the dispute involves 38,000 sq km; (b) The small central sector in Uttarakhand, of only 2,000 sq km; and (c) The large and contentious eastern sector, which measures some 90,000 sq km, practically the whole of Arunachal Pradesh.

Sources close to the negotiations say New Delhi has been prepared to accept Beijing's claims in the western sector, provided China accepted India's claims in the eastern sector with the relatively inconsequential central sector resolved through minor give-and-take. Beijing, however, demands "substantive concessions" in the eastern sector -- specifically ceding to China ownership of the strategic Tawang district. This is unacceptable to New Delhi.

Notwithstanding this deadlock, previous SRs negotiated an 'Agreement on political parameters and guiding principles for the settlement of the China-India boundary question', which was signed during Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to India in April 2005.

Doval will have to translate this into a "framework agreement" for a final settlement, after which a new border will be delineated and demarcated.

The 'political parameters' of 2005 are viewed as a triumph in New Delhi because they include two points that favour India's case. These are (a) Article VI: "The boundary should be along well-defined and easily identifiable natural geographical features, to be mutually agreed upon between the two sides"; and (b) Article VII: "In reaching a boundary settlement, the two sides shall safeguard due interests of their settled populations in the border areas."

Indian diplomats see China's acceptance of the watershed principle as tacit acceptance of the McMahon Line, drawn along the watershed in 1914, which India claims is the border between Arunachal Pradesh and Tibet. The clause about protecting the settled populations is seen in New Delhi as Chinese acceptance that the populous Tawang area remains with India.

So is it "Bye Bye aksai chin" ??

 

[sgarg]

is it normal protocol for a spymaster to act as a diplomat or high level leader?

Seems like a person you'd want to keep insulated especially from an enemy.

A spymaster can become President of Russia so what is the problem in a spymaster becoming a diplomat.

I can assure you many of diplomatic staff in embassies are spies. The interchange of diplomats and spies is very normal in international diplomacy.

 

[Compersion]

would like for such people to not be burden by specific tasks and have more of a supervisory and strategic guidance role. is there a signal being sent by appointing him.

also the western sector need not be given all away. the eastern sector is non-negotiable. if the negotiations do not succeed whats the rush ... the fall of the Berlin wall changed a lot of things. is there a rush for us to solve this. its better we focus on defense preparedness and not border solution with PRC. but in such parlays both sides makes moves and dance steps.

 

[blueblood]

is it normal protocol for a spymaster to act as a diplomat or high level leader?

Seems like a person you'd want to keep insulated especially from an enemy.

He is NSA for a PM who likes to take executive action like POTUS so in my opinion he is hands down the most eligible person for this thing.

Also, Kao was a different person but again very few recognised Doval until he retired. Same goes for MK Dhar and current chief of RAW.