New Delhi, Sep 17 (PTI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has told his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi that the two sides should work for an early resolution of the remaining issues along the LAC in eastern Ladakh to restore peace and tranquillity in the border areas as this has been an essential basis for progress in Sino-India ties.
As Jaishankar conveyed his views at a meeting with Wang on the sidelines of the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Tajikistan capital Dushanbe on Thursday, a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement on Friday said Minister Wang hoped India will meet China halfway to move the border situation towards stability and shift it from “urgent dispute settlement to regular management and control.
Jaishankar also asserted it is essential that China avoid viewing its ties with India through the “lens of a third country” to which Beijing said it “agrees”. Observing that Sino-India relations have their own “intrinsic logic”, China said the ties do not target any “third party and are not based on any third party.”
In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the two ministers exchanged views on the current situation along the Line of Actual Control(LAC) in eastern Ladakh as well as on global developments. The two sides agreed that military and diplomatic officials of India and China should meet again and continue their discussions to resolve the remaining issues at the earliest, it added.
The statement said Jaishankar underlined that it was necessary to ensure progress in the resolution of remaining issues so as to restore peace and tranquillity along the LAC in eastern Ladakh as such an atmosphere in the border areas has been an essential basis for progress in the bilateral relations.
Jaishankar also told Wang that India had never subscribed to any “clash of civilisations theory” and that Asian solidarity would depend on the example set by India-China relations, it added.
He also said the two sides need to establish a relationship based on “mutual respect” for which it was necessary that China avoid viewing the ties with India from the perspective of its relations with third countries, the statement said.
On Twitter, Jaishankar said: “It is also essential that China does not view its relations with India through the lens of a third country.”
While Jaishankar mentioned “a third country”, the statement by the MEA talked about “third countries”.
It is learnt that the two sides also exchanged views on developments in Afghanistan after the Taliban’s takeover of the country last month.
The MEA statement said Jaishankar recalled that Wang had in their last meeting on July 14 noted that the bilateral relations were at a low ebb.
It said both sides at the July 14 meeting had agreed that a prolongation of the existing situation was not in the interest of either side as it was impacting the relationship in a negative manner.
At that meeting, Jaishankar told Wang that any unilateral change in the status quo along the LAC was “not acceptable” to India and that the overall ties can only develop after full restoration of peace and tranquillity in eastern Ladakh.
“The EAM, therefore, emphasised that the two sides should work towards early resolution of the remaining issues along the LAC in eastern Ladakh while fully abiding by bilateral agreements and protocols,” the MEA statement said.
“The external affairs minister noted that since their last meeting on July 14, the two sides had made some progress in the resolution of the remaining issues along the LAC in eastern Ladakh and had completed the disengagement in Gogra area.
“However, there were still some outstanding issues that needed to be resolved,” it added.
