New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will participate in the Russia-India-China trilateral dialogue on 23 June amid a spike in tensions between New Delhi and Beijing over Monday’s clash that claimed the lives of 20 Indian soldiers in the Galwan river valley in Lakadh.
The RIC meeting that was expected to take place in March this year will now be convened next week, at a time when New Delhi and Beijing are engaged in a bitter standoff due to tensions at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh.
Jaishankar will be joined by his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi at the trilateral dialogue to be chaired by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava confirmed Thursday.
According to sources, the recent tensions between India and China along the LAC, especially Eastern Ladakh, are “bound to” dominate the dialogue even as Lavrov has said the agenda will “not involve” discussing bilateral issues. Lavrov said this in Moscow Wednesday.
India was earlier contemplating not to participate in the RIC meet or having it postponed due to the ongoing border standoff, the worst since 1975.
However, the sources said, Russia was not keen to delay the dialogue any further as it fears “increasing interference” by the US with its Indo-Pacific strategy.
Russia, the sources said, got especially “concerned” after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump spoke on phone and discussed the India-China border standoff.
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RIC meet goes virtual
This will be the first time when the RIC meeting will take place virtually. The last RIC meeting was held in China’s Wuzhen in February 2019. India, then represented by former external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, had held a bilateral meeting with Wang Yi on the sidelines of the meet.
EAM @SushmaSwaraj holds bilateral meeting with State Councilor and Foreign Minister of China, Mr Wang Yi at Wuzhen before the start of 16th #RIC Foreign Ministers meeting. @MEAIndia @IndianDiplomacy pic.twitter.com/yKg4ux9I02
— India in China (@EOIBeijing) February 27, 2019
“The existence of the RIC is an indisputable reality, firmly fixed on the world map. As for the current stage of the trilateral cooperation, there are no indications that it might be frozen,” Russian Ambassador to India Nikolay Kudashev said Wednesday.
The existence of the #RIC is an undisputable reality, firmly fixed on the world map. As for the current stage of of the trilateral cooperation, there are no indications that it might be frozen.
— Nikolay Kudashev (@NKudashev) June 17, 2020
Russia was one of the few countries India has briefed on the more than a month-long standoff with China by virtue of Moscow and New Delhi being strategic partners.
According to Srivastava, the official agenda of the RIC meeting includes discussing the pandemic and the challenges to global security.
India and China planning border talks under WMCC
Srivastava also said Thursday New Delhi and China are planning to hold talks on the boundary issue under the ‘Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on Border Affairs (WMCC)’.
The WMCC, which was established in 2012, was last held in January 2019 when both sides had agreed on “on implementation of various confidence-building measures (CBMs) to enhance mutual trust and understanding”.
According to Srivastava, the Chinese claim on the Galwan River valley is “exaggerated and untenable”.
Taking to Twitter, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said, “India must not misjudge the current situation or underestimate China’s firm will to safeguard its territorial sovereignty.”
She added, “Indian front-line troops broke the consensus and crossed the Line of Actual Control, deliberately provoking and attacking Chinese officers and soldiers, thus triggering fierce physical conflicts and causing casualties.”
Indian front-line troops broke the consensus and crossed the Line of Actual Control, deliberately provoking and attacking Chinese officers and soldiers, thus triggering fierce physical conflicts and causing casualties.
— Hua Chunying 华春莹 (@SpokespersonCHN) June 18, 2020
On Wednesday, Jaishankar and Wang had a long telephone discussion over the Galwan issue when they agreed to disengage respective troops to ensure peace.
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