External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar said that peace and tranquillity at the border areas with China have been the foundation of stable and cooperative ties between the two countries.
He gave this statement after holding talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in New Delhi that lasted for about three hours. Jaishankar said that he and his Chinese counterpart addressed a broad and substantive agenda in an open and candid manner.
The Chinese Foreign Minister arrived in New Delhi on Thursday and also held delegation-level talks with NSA Ajit Doval.
This is the first interaction at the topmost level ever since the clashes between the two countries at the Galwan Valley in the summer of 2020.
Here are the top quotes from the meeting:
‘Eastern Ladakh situation a work in progress’
“I would describe the current situation as work in progress, obviously at a slower pace than desirable. And my discussions with Foreign Minister Wang Yi today were aimed at expediting that process,” said EAM S Jaishankar.
China hasn’t invited India to Afghanistan meet
“On the Afghanistan meeting, which the Chinese are convening, I believe… No, they have not invited us,” Jaishankar said.
‘Hope China follows independent policy on India’
“I conveyed that we hope that China would follow an independent policy in respect to India and not allow its policies to be influenced by other countries and other relationships,” said Jaishankar.
On terrorism
“It did come up, in terms of my sharing with him India’s view of concerns, what we have in respect of Pakistan and of course what were the positions taken during OIC meet,” the EAM said.
On eastern Ladakh standoff
“The impact of the tension at the border areas on the overall relationship has been visible in the last two years. This is only natural since peace and tranquillity at the border areas have been the foundation of stable and cooperative ties. Indeed we have agreements designed to strengthen these foundations and prevent the kind of situation that we are seeing today. I was honest in conveying our sentiment on this issue during talks with Wang Yi,” the EAM said.
