Doval “has been appointed as the special representative of India to conduct boundary negotiations and strategic consultations with China,” a PMO statement said. “This arrangement will be part of NSA’s overall assignment,” it added.
In the past, NSA, with the rank of Minister of State, has generally been the special representative on boundary talks with China.
However, it was not clear whether Doval, who was appointed NSA in May, has been given the MoS rank now. The Chinese side is represented by a vice minister-level official.
India and China had established in 2003 the mechanism of special representatives to thrash out a resolution to the vexed boundary question. The two sides have so far held 17 rounds of talks, making some progress.
The last round was held in February in Delhi between the then NSA Shivshankar Menon and Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi.