New Delhi: India and China have made progress in talks on border disengagement, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said in Geneva Thursday, adding that nearly 75 percent of the problems had been worked out.
The minister said the two countries have negotiated for the last four years in the aftermath of the June 2020 clashes in the Galwan Valley that killed 20 Indian troops.
That year, Jaishankar said, China moved a large number of troops to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) “in violation of multiple agreements for some reason, which is not entirely clear to us”.
“The first step to that (solving the border stand-off) is disengagement… We have made some progress. You can say roughly 75 percent of the disengagement problems have been sorted out,” he added.
Jaishankar said the border confrontation has affected the entirety of the relationship. “Because, you cannot have violence at the border and say the rest of the relationship is insulated from it. Trade has got affected. The exchanges have gotten affected. It is not normal.”
Jaishankar added that other aspects in the ties could be explored if peace and tranquillity was returned to the border areas.
The external affairs minister was speaking with Jean David-Levitte, the former French permanent representative to the United Nations at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP).
He is on a visit to Switzerland from 12 to 13 September, following a two-day stop in Germany.
India has not yet lifted the Covid-era restrictions of direct flights to China, while the number of visas issued to Chinese citizens has fallen to 5,500 in 2023 from nearly 2,00,000 in 2018.
Despite these restrictions, China beat the US to become India’s largest trading partner in goods in the 2023-2024 financial year, with trade reaching $118.41 billion.
Jaishankar met with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi twice in July 2024 and urged the disengagement process along the LAC be hastened.
The neighbours have also held two meetings of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) committees in recent months.
‘Trade very unfair’
The minister also called trade ties between India and China “very unfair,” saying the imbalance was extremely high. In 2023-2024, India imported $101.74 billion worth of goods from China, while exporting only about $16.66 billion — nearly a $85 billion deficit.
“We do not have the market access there. They have much better market access in India. We have concerns in various areas — in technology, telecommunications, digital. We also monitor what happens in the Indian Ocean,” Jaishankar said.
He added that any “radical change” of presence in the Indian Ocean would require India to scrutinise it under its “security calculus”.
Quad summit to be held in US
Jaishankar officially confirmed that the next summit between leaders of the Quad nations (India, the US, Australia and Japan) would take place in the US later this month. This is the first official confirmation of the summit, which was expected to be hosted by India.
India proposed the summit be held here around its Republic Day celebrations in January, but the date did not work for other heads. India has since held its general elections, which further delayed the summit.
Just after India’s elections, US President Joe Biden stood down as the Democratic candidate for the November presidential polls, while Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also said he would step away after the leadership contests in his party expected on 27 September.
“We hope that in the coming days we will have a Quad summit in the US. That also tells you how important in a way it has become,” Jaishankar said.
The summit is likely to be held before the United Nations General Assembly session around 21 September, and in Delaware – the home state of President Biden.
Jaishankar said Quad was a “net asset” to the Indo-Pacific region and asserted the four countries were looking to strengthen their relationship.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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