Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri to embark on two-day China visit on January 26

Vikram Misri (Image: IANS)

Vikram Misri, India's foreign secretary, is set to travel to Beijing for a two-day official trip starting Sunday (January 26), continuing recent diplomatic exchanges between the two nations.

"Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri will be visiting Beijing on January 26 and 27 for a meeting of the Foreign Secretary-Vice Minister mechanism between India and China," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement on Thursday.

"The resumption of this bilateral mechanism flows from the agreement at the leadership level to discuss the next steps for India-China relations, including in the political, economic, and people-to-people domains," it added.

This marks the second major Indian diplomatic visit to China in about six weeks. Previously, National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval visited Beijing, engaging with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in the Special Representatives (SR) dialogue on border matters.

The decision to revive the SR dialogue mechanism and other such formats was taken at a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kazan on October 23.

In the nearly 50-minute meeting, Modi underscored the importance of properly handling differences and disputes and not allowing them to disturb peace and tranquillity in border areas.

The Modi-Xi meeting came two days after India and China firmed up a disengagement pact for Depsang and Demchok, the last two friction points in eastern Ladakh.