Global Geopolitical Series: India-China hold border talks vital for China’s ‘Belt and Road initiative’

Indian foreign ministry has confirmed earlier this week that it would host another round of talks with regard to the border dispute with its larger neighbor, China. According to AFP, The Foreign Ministry said China’s special representative on borders would meet his counterpart in New Delhi on Friday for the 20th meeting on the unresolved “boundary question,”. The long-running border dispute between the two led India to boycott China’s ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ earlier this year. The two states have been arguing over their border since the 1960s when they went to war over the Himalayan territory of Arunachal Pradesh. Regular talks have been held since 2003, but disputes remain.

Earlier this year, there was a military standoff between the two in the Doklam region of Bhutan after China tried to build infrastructure in the area. India and Bhutan enjoy a security treaty in which India provides protection to its smaller neighbor. This week’s meeting on borders is the first since India and China resolved a summer standoff in a different Himalayan region.

To promote its ‘one belt, one road’ initiative, China is very eager to expand its foothold in the Indian Ocean. It has struggled to do it so far, due to India’s opposition to the project as the latter enjoys a strategic position in the Indian Ocean and several key treaties with Sri Lanka, another key strategically positioned country in the Indian Ocean.