The continued normalisation of India-China relations can produce mutually beneficial outcomes, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said at a meeting with Chinese vice president Han Zheng on Monday.
Jaishankar met Han in Beijing shortly after arriving in China to attend a meeting of foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). This is his first visit to China since bilateral ties were hit by border clashes in April-May 2020.
The bilateral relationship has been “steadily improving” since the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping in the Russian city of Kazan last October, Jaishankar said in his opening remarks at the meeting.
“Continued normalisation of our ties can produce mutually beneficial outcomes,” Jaishankar said. He added that his discussions during this visit will maintain the “positive trajectory” in the relationship.
India and China reached an understanding last October to end the four-year military standoff in Ladakh sector of the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Two days after the understanding, Modi and Xi met in Kazan and agreed to revive several mechanisms to normalise bilateral relations and to address the long-standing border dispute.
Since then, there have been meetings between the foreign and defence ministers and NSAs of the two countries.
Jaishankar noted that the two sides have marked the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations. “The resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra is also widely appreciated in India,” he said, referring to the pilgrimage to Tibet that was revived after a gap of five years.
{{/usCountry}}Jaishankar noted that the two sides have marked the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations. “The resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra is also widely appreciated in India,” he said, referring to the pilgrimage to Tibet that was revived after a gap of five years.
{{/usCountry}}He further noted that the international situation is “very complex” and said an open exchange of views and perspectives between India and China, as neighbouring nations and major economies, is “very important”.
Jaishankar also conveyed India’s support for China’s presidency of the SCO.
After holding bilateral meetings with senior Chinese leaders in Beijing, Jaishankar will participate in the SCO foreign ministers’ meeting in Tianjin. Jaishankar travelled to China from Singapore, where he held meetings with the top leadership on Sunday to review bilateral relations.
India-China relations were taken to their lowest point in six decades by the face-off on the LAC and deadly clashes in Galwan Valley in June 2020 that killed 20 Indian soldiers and at least four Chinese troops.
The two sides are now engaged in rebuilding their relations. Ahead of Jaishankar’s arrival, the spokesperson of the Chinese embassy in New Delhi said Tibet-related issues such as the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama are a “thorn” in bilateral ties. The spokesperson’s remarks came in the wake of the Dalai Lama’s announcement that only a trust set up by him can recognise his reincarnation.