'Abnormal among adjectives used to describe ties...' Jaishankar on meeting Chinese counterpart amid G20 meet
By Anish Kumar | First Published Mar 2, 2023, 10:59 PM IST"Our discussions were focused on addressing current challenges to the bilateral relationship, especially peace and tranquillity in the border areas," Jaishankar said in a tweet.
Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang held a discussion over the ongoing border issues for the first time after the latter became the minister about three months back. The bilateral meeting took place on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers' meeting in the national capital.
"I met minister Chinese Foreign Minister. Our talks were about the current state of our relationship, which many of you heard me describe as 'abnormal'; those were among the adjectives that I used in the meeting," Jaishankar said during the press conference.
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"... Our discussions were focused on addressing current challenges to the bilateral relationship, especially peace and tranquillity in the border areas," Jaishankar said in a tweet.
This was Jaishankar and Qin's first meeting since the latter became the Chinese foreign minister in December.
The troops of India and China have been engaged in a border standoff along the line of actual control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. It must be mentioned that the troops have disengaged from all friction points in eastern Ladakh, but de-escalation is yet to take place from there. The areas include Pangong Tso, Gogra heights, and Hot Springs, among others.
The two sides had held the 17th rounds of military talks to resolve the issue, and recently the diplomats of both countries reviewed the situation along the LAC during their 26th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC).
This was the first WMCC meeting since the 14th meeting held in July 2019 to be held in person. The joint secretary (East Asia) from the ministry of external affairs led the Indian delegation. The Chinese delegation was led by the director general of the boundary and oceanic affairs department of the Chinese foreign ministry. They also agreed to hold the 18th round of military meetings at the earliest date
New Delhi has maintained the stance that its ties with China cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas.
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