Benaulim: External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar held a bilateral meeting with his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang Thursday, where the two sides held a “detailed” discussion on the Ladakh border row and the need to ensure peace and tranquility in the border areas.
The bilateral meeting was held at a beach resort in Goa ahead of Friday’s Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) meeting under the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
Foreign ministers of China, Russia, Pakistan and other countries arrived in Goa Thursday ahead of the CFM meet.
“A detailed discussion with the State Councillor and FM Qin Gang of China on our bilateral relationship. Focus remains on resolving outstanding issues and ensuring peace and tranquility in the border areas,” Jaishankar tweeted, adding that the two sides also discussed issues related to the SCO, G20 and BRICS — multilateral bodies they are both part of.
This comes after Indian and Chinese defence ministers met at the SCO Defence Ministers’ Meeting last week. During bilateral talks on the sidelines of the event, India’s Rajnath Singh told China’s Gen Li Shangfu that a resolution of border tensions was a must as Chinese violation of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) had eroded the base of bilateral relations.
A week prior to this, top military commanders of both countries had held the 18th round of Corps Commander level talks.
Last month, China attempted to rename places in Arunachal Pradesh, which drew ire from New Delhi.
After the SCO CFM meet in Goa, the Chinese foreign minister will embark on a two-day visit to Pakistan, where he is expected to participate in the China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Foreign Ministers’ meeting.
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Bilateral talks held between Jaishankar and Qin in Goa come amid strained ties between the two countries. Indian and Chinese troops have been in a military standoff in eastern Ladakh along the Line of Actual Control since a deadly clash in 2020, in which India lost 20 soldiers and several Chinese soldiers were killed too.
This is the second time Jaishankar and Qin have held bilateral talks on the border issue.
On 2 March, after India hosted the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in New Delhi, Jaishankar said he held a 45-minute bilateral meeting with his Chinese counterpart about the “abnormal” relations between the two countries.
“We spent maybe about 45 minutes talking to each other and the bulk of our conversation understandably was about the current state of our relationship, which many of you heard me describe as ‘abnormal’…,” he had told reporters then.
He further said that there were problems in the bilateral relationship that needed to be discussed “very openly and candidly between us”.
On 27 April, analysts noted that there was no handshake or exchange of pleasantries between the Indian and Chinese defence ministers when they met on the sidelines of the SCO event in Delhi.
While Rajnath Singh said issues at the LAC need to be solved in accordance with existing bilateral agreements, Gen Li Shangfu said that the border is “generally stable”.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)