Defense Minister Rajnath Singh will address the Army Commanders’ Conference in Gangtok today, focusing on border security and emerging national security challenges, particularly along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China.
Jaishankar said currently the relationship between the two countries is "significantly disturbed” with respect to the border talks. He also said that 75 per cent of the issues were resolved in the 'disengagement part' while challenges persisted in other aspects.
According to the statement released by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the meeting gave two sides the opportunity to review recent efforts towards finding early resolution of remaining issues along LAC.
The external affairs minister said negotiations between the two sides to find a solution to the problem are underway. "Now those 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.
India and China discussed early resumption of direct passenger flights between their two countries, Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said, in an indication that their air travel could recover after four years.
S Jaishankar dismissed the possibility of involving a third party in India's border dispute with China. He stated that the issue is between the two neighbouring countries and that it is up to them to resolve it.
Wang said the two countries should take a "rational approach" to rise above differences and frictions to promote sustainable development of bilateral ties. Jaishankar asserted the need to ensure "full respect" to LAC and past agreements to stabilise India-China relations.
S Jaishankar underscored the importance of upholding "complete respect" for the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and previous agreements to "stabilise" and "reconstruct" bilateral relations with Beijing during his second meeting in a month with the Chinese counterpart.
Wang expressed his readiness to collaborate with Doval in implementing the significant agreements made by the leaders of both countries, managing issues concerning the border situation, and working together to ensure peace and stability in the border regions.
Jaishankar is leading the Indian delegation in the SCO meeting in Kazakhstan as Prime Minister Narendra Modi skipped the event. Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russia's Vladimir Putin and Pakistan's Shehbaz Sharif have also arrived in Astana to take part in the meeting.
Multiple times in the past year, China's government and airlines have urged India's civil aviation authorities to restore direct air connections, emphasising its significance as a "major concern" for China.
Li Qiang, PM Modi's Chinese counterpart, said healthy India-China relations are conducive to stability and positive energy in the region and the world. Relations between India and China remain frozen since the Galwan border clash in 2020, despite numerous talks to resolve the issue.
Xu was appointed as China's ambassador to India after an unusually long delay of 18 months following the departure of his predecessor Sun Weidong. Xu is expected to play a major role in the India-China border talks as both countries seek to resolve the prolonged military standoff in eastern Ladakh.
Earlier this month, PM Modi stressed the urgency of addressing the "prolonged situation" at the border to restore peace and tranquillity in the affected areas. In response, the Chinese foreign ministry said "great positive progress" had been made in the border situation.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said both sides are maintaining close communication through diplomatic and military channels. This was in response to PM Modi's recent remarks to Newsweek, stressing urgency to deal with the "prolonged situation" at the border.
In an interview with a US news magazine, PM Modi stressed that peaceful and stable relations between India and China are important for the entire region and world. He also shed light on India's economic reforms that have attracted foreign businesses to the domestic market.
The Union Minister said China was nervous and uncomfortable due to PM Modi reversing Congress' policy of not developing border areas of the country. He also warned that "this was not 1962" and accused Congress of furthering Chinese propaganda.
China has released a list of 30 new names for various places in Arunachal Pradesh, which it claims as 'Zangnan' or South Tibet, despite India's strong objections. India has repeatedly rejected China's 'absurd' claims over the northeastern state, asserting that it is an integral part of the country.
India and China held the 29th round of border consultation in Beijing on Wednesday, where the South Asian nations discussed ways to achieve complete disengagement and resolve the remaining issues along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Ladakh region.
India has repeatedly rejected China's claims over Arunachal Pradesh, which Beijing claims as Zangnan or South Tibet. India has opposed China's move to assign 'invented names' to the state and rejected its 'absurd' claims after PM Modi's visit there.
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