S Jaishankar (L) with Wang Yi. (Photo: X/@DrSJaishankar)
New Delhi: The foreign minister, S Jaishankar, and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, engaged in a crucial meeting on the margins of Asean-related gatherings in Vientiane, Laos, on Thursday. The encounter marked their second face-to-face discussion since the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit in Astana, on July 4. Amid ongoing border tensions, the two leaders deliberated on ways to stabilize and rebuild India-China relations.
During his meeting with Wang, Jaishankar emphasized the urgency of resolving remaining issues along the line of actual control (LAC). He stressed the need for “complete disengagement” in areas like Ladakh, Depsang, and Demchok. The state of the border, he asserted, directly impacts the overall bilateral relationship. Both ministers agreed on the importance of respecting the LAC and adhering to past agreements.
Met with CPC Politburo member and FM Wang Yi in Vientiane today.
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) July 25, 2024
Continued our ongoing discussions about our bilateral relationship. The state of the border will necessarily be reflected on the state of our ties.
Agreed on the need to give strong guidance to complete the… pic.twitter.com/pZDRio1e94
The Indian foreign ministry’s readout highlighted the significance of peace and tranquillity on the borders for normalcy in bilateral ties.
That statement said that during his meeting with Wang, Jaishankar underscored the “three mutuals”: mutual respect, mutual interest, and mutual sensitivity. The ministers committed to working purposefully and urgently to achieve disengagement.
They also planned an early meeting of the Working Mechanism on Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC).
The stand-off on the LAC in eastern Ladakh started in May 2020, which also saw a deadly brawl between the Indian Army and China’s People’s Liberation Army in the Galwan valley that killed 20 Indian soldiers and at least four Chinese troops in June that year, has frozen India-China relations. Apart from eastern Ladakh, there have been sporadic non-lethal clashes between Indian and Chinese troops on the LAC at Arunachal Pradesh as well.
New Delhi has since maintained that the bilateral relationship cannot be normalized without Beijing restoring status quo ante and withdrawing its troops from Indian territories it encroached in eastern Ladakh and squatted on in 2020.
