India and China agreed on Thursday to work urgently and redouble their efforts to achieve complete disengagement in the remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks in the Russian city of St. Petersburg with a focus on finding an early resolution to the prolonged border standoff. During the meeting, Doval conveyed to Wang that peace and tranquillity in border areas, as well as respect for the Line of Actual Control (LAC), are essential for the return of normalcy in bilateral ties, according to the Ministry of External Affairs.
The Doval-Wang meeting took place in a Russian city on the sidelines of a conference of national security advisors of the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa).
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated that the meeting between Doval and Wang offered an opportunity to assess recent initiatives aimed at reaching a prompt resolution to outstanding issues.
The MEA added that the “meeting allowed the two sides to review the recent efforts towards finding an early resolution of the remaining issues along the Line of Actual Control, which will create conditions to stabilise and rebuild bilateral relations”.
“Both sides agreed to work with urgency and redouble their efforts to realize complete disengagement in the remaining areas,” it said in a statement.
“The NSA conveyed that peace and tranquillity in border areas and respect for LAC are essential for normalcy in bilateral relations,” the MEA said.
“Both sides must fully abide by relevant bilateral agreements, protocols, and understandings reached in the past by the two governments,” it said.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated that both India and China recognize the significance of their bilateral relationship for both countries, the region, and the world. The MEA also mentioned that the two sides discussed their perspectives on the global and regional situation. The meeting between Ajit Doval and Wang Yi took place two weeks after diplomatic talks between India and China, during which they agreed to increase communication through diplomatic and military channels to address unresolved issues. Since May 2020, the Indian and Chinese militaries have been in a standoff, and while some friction points have seen disengagement, a complete resolution of the border dispute has not yet been achieved.
Disengagement 75% Complete: S Jaishankar
Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday that there has been “some progress” with China on the boundary issue. He mentioned that around 75% of the “disengagement” issues have been resolved.
“Negotiations are going on. We made some progress. I would say roughly you can say about 75 per cent of the disengagement problems are sorted out,” he said, adding “We still have some things to do.”
Jaishankar, who is currently in Geneva, Switzerland, for bilateral meetings, made these remarks during an interactive session at the Global Centre for Security Policy, an independent think tank. The Minister also highlighted the growing militarization of the frontier as a major concern. He emphasized that the Galwan Valley clashes in June 2020 significantly impacted India-China relations, stating, “One cannot have violence at the border and then say the rest of the relationship is insulated from it”.
Team BharatShakti
