For the second time in 3 weeks, foreign ministers of India and China, S Jaishankar and Wang Yi respectively, met Thursday agreeing significantly on the need for a “strong guidance” to complete the disengagement process in eastern Ladakh, an issue blocking return of normalcy to bilateral ties.
Jaishankar’s remark stating the same in a post on X seemed to improve upon the outcome of their previous meeting in Kazakhstan earlier this month where he called for redoubling efforts to achieve complete disengagement and both leaders agreed prolongation of the border situation was not in the interest of either side.The ministers met on this occasion on the margins of an ASEAN event in Vientiane.
However, even as they agreed to work with urgency for full disengagement, Jaishankar reiterated India’s position – that peace and tranquillity on the borders and respect for LAC are essential for normalcy in bilateral relations – as he said 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 disengagement process. Must ensure full respect for the LAC and past agreements. It is in our mutual interest to stabilize our ties. We should approach the immediate issues with a sense of purpose and urgency,” said Jaishankar after the meeting.
He also told Wang in his opening remarks at a time the world is faced with conflicts and disruption to the global economy, it is in the mutual interest of India and China to stabilise ties and focus on development. “Our ability to ensure that they are stable and forward looking is essential both for the prospects of Asia and that of the multipolar world,” he said, adding Sino-Indian ties today have an exceptional significance.
Separately, the Indian government said in a statement that the talks focussed on finding an early resolution of the remaining issues along the LAC to stabilize and rebuild bilateral relations and that both ministers agreed on the need to work with purpose and urgency to achieve complete disengagement at the earliest.
“Both sides must fully abide by relevant bilateral agreements, protocols, and understandings reached between the two governments in the past,” said the Indian readout. Like in the last meeting, Jaishankar stressed the importance of the three mutuals – mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity – to ties. Ministers also again agreed to hold another round of diplomatic talks to address the issue.
While the Chinese readout didn’t specifically mention the need to expedite disengagement in the remaining areas, it did say the 2 sides agreed to work together to maintain peace and promote “new progress” in border affairs consultation “It is hoped that the two sides will meet each other halfway, actively explore the correct way for the two neighbouring major countries to get along, and guide all sectors to establish a positive understanding of each other,” said the Chinese statement, adding Wang stressed normalcy in Sino-Indian ties is also a common expectation of the Global South.
Interestingly, the strong guidance formulation is also a throwback to the India-China joint statement after the first informal summit in Wuhan in 2018 where PM Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping agreed to issue “strategic guidance” to their respective militaries to strengthen communication in order to build trust and mutual understanding.
India and China have achieved disengagement at 4 points in the western sector, since the ongoing standoff erupted in May 2020, but the same has remained elusive in Depsang and Demchok areas even after 21 rounds of military and 15 rounds of diplomatic talks. China sees these as legacy issues that predate the current standoff.
Jaishankar’s remark stating the same in a post on X seemed to improve upon the outcome of their previous meeting in Kazakhstan earlier this month where he called for redoubling efforts to achieve complete disengagement and both leaders agreed prolongation of the border situation was not in the interest of either side.The ministers met on this occasion on the margins of an ASEAN event in Vientiane.
However, even as they agreed to work with urgency for full disengagement, Jaishankar reiterated India’s position – that peace and tranquillity on the borders and respect for LAC are essential for normalcy in bilateral relations – as he said 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 disengagement process. Must ensure full respect for the LAC and past agreements. It is in our mutual interest to stabilize our ties. We should approach the immediate issues with a sense of purpose and urgency,” said Jaishankar after the meeting.
He also told Wang in his opening remarks at a time the world is faced with conflicts and disruption to the global economy, it is in the mutual interest of India and China to stabilise ties and focus on development. “Our ability to ensure that they are stable and forward looking is essential both for the prospects of Asia and that of the multipolar world,” he said, adding Sino-Indian ties today have an exceptional significance.
Separately, the Indian government said in a statement that the talks focussed on finding an early resolution of the remaining issues along the LAC to stabilize and rebuild bilateral relations and that both ministers agreed on the need to work with purpose and urgency to achieve complete disengagement at the earliest.
“Both sides must fully abide by relevant bilateral agreements, protocols, and understandings reached between the two governments in the past,” said the Indian readout. Like in the last meeting, Jaishankar stressed the importance of the three mutuals – mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity – to ties. Ministers also again agreed to hold another round of diplomatic talks to address the issue.
While the Chinese readout didn’t specifically mention the need to expedite disengagement in the remaining areas, it did say the 2 sides agreed to work together to maintain peace and promote “new progress” in border affairs consultation “It is hoped that the two sides will meet each other halfway, actively explore the correct way for the two neighbouring major countries to get along, and guide all sectors to establish a positive understanding of each other,” said the Chinese statement, adding Wang stressed normalcy in Sino-Indian ties is also a common expectation of the Global South.
Interestingly, the strong guidance formulation is also a throwback to the India-China joint statement after the first informal summit in Wuhan in 2018 where PM Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping agreed to issue “strategic guidance” to their respective militaries to strengthen communication in order to build trust and mutual understanding.
India and China have achieved disengagement at 4 points in the western sector, since the ongoing standoff erupted in May 2020, but the same has remained elusive in Depsang and Demchok areas even after 21 rounds of military and 15 rounds of diplomatic talks. China sees these as legacy issues that predate the current standoff.
