In a press conference after his meeting with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister (FM) Wang Yi in New Delhi on Friday, Indian External Affairs Minister (EAM) Subrahmanyam Jaishankar reaffirmed that ties with China are “not normal,” referring to their longstanding and unresolved border dispute.
China and India should take long-term view, work together to make respective contributions in promoting peace &stability both in the region and in the world,🇨🇳State Councilor &FM Wang Yi said on Fri while meeting with🇮🇳National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.https://t.co/5SQrucZ9GI pic.twitter.com/Q4sJSiziLr
— Chinese Embassy in Switzerland (@ChinaEmbinCH) March 25, 2022
Nevertheless, Jaishankar remarked that despite tensions at the border, “India attaches great importance to its relations with China” and has made “no changes in its strategic assessment of the importance of China.” “India is ready to strengthen communication with China and enhance mutual trust,” the EAM said, adding that both he and Wang agreed on the need to declare an immediate ceasefire.
Noting the current state of bilateral ties, Jaishankar said, “So long there are very large deployments, [the] border situation is not normal. We still have ongoing friction areas, have made progress in resolving some friction areas including Pangong Tso. Our discussion today was how to take this forward,” Jaishankar asserted. He also stated that the India-China relationship “is best served by observing the three mutuals: mutual respect, mutual sensitivity, and mutual interest.”
Wang also met with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on the same day. Referring to border tensions in his meeting with Doval, Wang said that both countries should “bear in mind a long-term perspective” and “make respective contributions to peace and stability in the region.” To this end, he suggested a three-point approach that requires both sides to:
- Adhere to the strategic judgment made by the leaders of the two countries that “China and India pose no threat but offer development opportunities to each other.”
- View each other’s development with a win-win mentality and forge a sound interaction model.
- Cooperate in multilateral processes, step up communication and coordination, support each other, and uphold multilateralism.
Doval, espoused similar sentiments, saying that India, too, believes that both countries should be “partners rather than rivals” and must “not let the boundary issue affect overall bilateral relations.” “Fostering amicable relations between India and China is an important consensus between the leaders of the two countries, as well as the common aspiration of the two peoples,” he assured.
On March 25, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval of India in New Delhi during his working visit to India.
— Sun Weidong (@China_Amb_India) March 27, 2022
Please read the official press release: https://t.co/1f5CbLGKyZ pic.twitter.com/iAgbsJCRGk
Both delegations agreed to “speed up the resolution of individual remaining problems, properly manage and control the ground situation, and avoid misunderstanding and misjudgment.” They also agreed “to follow the Agreement on the Political Parameters and Guiding Principles for the Settlement of the India-China Boundary Question signed in 2005, and solve the boundary issue through peaceful and friendly consultations without using or threatening to use force against each other.”
In fact, in his meeting with Jaishankar, Wang said the neighbours must “strengthen communication, coordinate stances, safeguard respective legitimate interests and the common interests of the developing countries, and make respective contributions to peace and stability in the region.”
Talks with Chinese FM Wang Yi have concluded.
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) March 25, 2022
Will be addressing the media very soon. pic.twitter.com/x8gEgcJLh6
Border tensions reached new heights in May 2020 after several troops engaged in stone-pelting and fistfights in Eastern Ladakh and the Naku La pass in Northern Sikkim. The Chinese troops had reportedly objected to the presence of their Indian counterparts in the disputed lake area that China controls two-thirds of.
Soon after, in June 2020, both armies engaged in another “violent face-off” in the Galwan Valley in Eastern Ladakh that left 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese soldiers dead. The violence was the first deadly clash between the nuclear-armed rivals in 45 years.
Since then, New Delhi and Beijing have held 15 rounds of detailed negotiations in order to de-escalate tensions; however, these discussions have done little to put an end to the two sides hurling accusations at one another.
Jaishankar also repeated India’s objection to Wang’s recent comments about Kashmir. At the 48th session of the two-day Council of Foreign Ministers’ conference in Islamabad last Tuesday, Wang said that China shares the “same hope” as that of other group members in their support for Kashmir’s “just freedom struggles.”
The Indian EAM said, “I conveyed that we hoped that China would follow an independent policy in respect of India, and not allow its policies to be influenced by other countries and other relationships.”
Jaishankar also called on China to allow the return of Indian medical students by taking a “non-discriminatory approach.” China has suspended visa and residence permits since March 27, 2020.
Furthermore, like with their own border conflict, the two ministers agreed that there must be an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and called on both Russia and Ukraine to engage in diplomacy.