Demilitarisation of the border key to thaw in India-China relations

Restoration of normal ties will require restoration of normalcy in border areas India said after the talks

KV Ramesh Updated On: 26 Mar 2022 19:26:PM

Demilitarisation of the border key to thaw in India-China relations

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Chinese Foreign minister Wang Yi at Hyderabad House, New Delhi on Friday. (Image credit: Twitter)

Key Highlights

Beijing wanted Wang to call on PM Modi, India conveyed that PM was busy in Lucknow for Yogi's oath ceremony
EAM called the meeting with the Chinese Foreign Minister an “open and candid” discussion
In the 3-hour talks, bilateral relations that have been disturbed as a result of Chinese actions in April 2020 were discussed

After an almost three hour meeting with EAM S Jaishankar, the Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi, Beijing, on Friday, reached out to New Delhi for him to call on PM Narendra Modi, to which the Indian side declined politely, said sources.

The Chinese were told that PM Modi was busy on Friday as he had to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow. Wang, later left New Delhi around 3 pm on Friday.

Sources said China has invited NSA Ajit Doval to China in his capacity as the Special Representative. The NSA, sources said, could visit after immediate issues were resolved successfully.

Meanwhile, in what can be termed as the first major diplomatic engagement between India and China in nearly two years since armies of the two nations fought along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday at the Hyderabad House in Delhi.

The current situation between India and China on the eastern Ladakh issue is “a work in progress” but moving at a slower place than desirable, said External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar after talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, on Friday.

(With inputs from PTI)