'Should set aside LAC standoff to revive ties': China

Jaishankar said both sides should speedily resolve the remaining issues on the LAC since the standoff was negatively impacting bilateral ties.

Updated on: Jul 16, 2021, 03:03:55 IST

By Rezaul H Laskar, Hindustan Times, New Delhi

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China has said the overall situation in the border areas with India has de-escalated and both countries should set aside the standoff on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) to expand bilateral cooperation, reflecting the differences between the two sides on the issue.

The Chinese position was articulated on Thursday in a statement on the meeting between external affairs minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Dushanbe. After the meeting on Wednesday, Jaishankar said both sides should speedily resolve the remaining issues on the LAC since the standoff was negatively impacting bilateral ties.

According to the Chinese foreign ministry’s statement, Wang said that after his meeting with Jaishankar in Moscow last year, frontier troops of both countries disengaged in Galwan Valley and Pangong Lake areas, and the “overall situation in the border area was de-escalated”.

Reiterating Beijing’s contention that the Chinese side wasn’t responsible for the standoff, Wang said: “The two sides must place the border issue in an appropriate position in bilateral relations, expand the positive momentum of bilateral cooperation and create favourable conditions for resolving differences through negotiation.”

China’s stance is contrary to the position taken by the Indian side, as Jaishankar had said that normalisation of ties depends on restoring peace in the areas.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rezaul H Laskar
Rezaul Hasan Laskar is Foreign Editor with the Hindustan Times, which he joined in 2015. He began as a journalist in his hometown of Shillong in northeast India and has worked in newspapers and wire services over the years. He moved to New Delhi in 1997 and initially focused on defence, national security, Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast, while also working of foreign policy and international relations. He has been part of the media delegation accompanying PMs on foreign visits and has reported from destinations ranging from Tibet to Ukraine. Between 2007 and 2013, he was the Press Trust of India correspondent in Pakistan, one of only two Indian journalists allowed to report from the country. He extensively covered Pakistan’s domestic politics and the life of the common people, as well as the fallout of the 2008 Mumbai attacks on India-Pakistan relations and the subsequent trial in Pakistan of the suspects involved in the attack. As part of his reportage in Pakistan, he travelled the breadth of the country, from the Swat Valley to Balochistan. Reza’s first gig in journalism was writing a weekly music column, and music – especially classic rock – remains a keen interest. He is also a movie buff and a keen photographer.Read More