India-China hold talks to finalise Khurshid, Li's visits

India and China today held talks to finalise details of External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid's visit to Beijing and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's trip to New Delhi, a day after both sides withdrew their troops from the Depsang Valley.
Diplomats of both the countries held parlays here to finalise the programmes for Khurshid's visit commencing on May 9.
The visit was under cloud until the two sides reached the agreement to end the standoff, which was simultaneously acknowledged yesterday.
The issue is expected to figure in Khurshid's talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi as well as Premier Li when he calls on him.

Indian officials say Khurshid's meeting with the Chinese leadership is still under finalisation.
Besides the border incident, the focus of Khurshid's talks here will be to finalise the programme of Li's visit to India during which he would be visiting both New Delhi and Mumbai.

The new Chinese Premier chose India as his first stop during his maiden foreign to strike a friendly chord with Indian public and leaders, which officials here hope that would not be overshadowed by a barrage of negative publicity generated by the Chinese troops intrusion into Daulat Beig Oldi (DBO) in Ladakh.
Commenting on the border standoff, Chinese strategic analysts said the incident will not cast a shadow on the bilateral ties as India and China are well aware of the importance of friendly relations.

The peaceful settlement of this crisis is within expectations, as China and India have developed a relatively mature mechanism to respond to such emergencies, Sun Shihai, an expert on Indian studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said.
Beijing and New Delhi launched a mechanism for consultation and coordination regarding border issues last year to deal with incidents like DBO.