National Security Adviser Ajit Doval on Thursday met with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of the BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) meeting in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The meeting aimed to review the recent efforts taken towards arriving at an early resolution of the unresolved issues along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in order to stabilise and rebuild bilateral relations.
During the meeting, both nations agreed to work with “urgency” and to “redouble efforts” to achieve complete disengagement in the remaining border areas. According to a statement by the Ministry of External Affairs, NSA Doval conveyed that peace and tranquility in border areas and respect for LAC are paramount to attain normalcy in bilateral relations.
“Both sides must fully abide by relevant bilateral agreements, protocols, and understandings reached in the past by the two Governments,” the statement noted.
It was also agreed during the meeting by both sides that the relationship between India and China is crucial for them, the region, and the world. Additionally, Doval and Wang Yi also exchanged their views on the existing situation, both at the regional and global level.
75% Disengagement Issues Resolved With China: Jaishankar
Doval’s meeting with the Director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission Wang Yi, comes after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar stated at a think-tank interaction in Geneva Centre for Security Policy on Thursday that 75 percent of the disengagement problems between India and China have been resolved.
Highlighting the progress made by India in terms of its border negotiations with China, Jaishankar said: “Now those negotiations are going on. We made some progress. I would say roughly you can say about 75 percent of the disengagement problems are sorted out.” He also said that both the nations have been involved in negotiations for the last four years following the June 2020 Galwan Valley clashes, wherein 20 Indian troops were killed.
Speaking about the impact of the border row on the relationship between India and China, he stated: “We still have some things to do. But there is a bigger issue that both of us have brought forces close up and in that sense, there is a militarisation of the border. How does one deal with it? I think we have to deal with it. In the meanwhile, after the clash, it has affected the entirety of the relationship because you cannot have violence at the border and then say the rest of the relationship is insulated from it.”
Jaishankar also indicated that the relationship can improve if there is a resolution to the row. “We hope that if there is a solution to the disengagement and there is a return to peace and tranquility, then we can look at other possibilities,” he said.
‘Chinese Troops Occupy Delhi-Size Indian Land’: Rahul Gandhi
On Wednesday, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi stirred a controversy for his remarks on India and China during an interaction at The National Press Club in Washington DC. The Congress leader made a big claim that China occupies Indian land the size of Delhi and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had not handled the border dispute with China properly.
“We’ve got Chinese troops occupying land the size of Delhi in Ladakh, and I think that’s a disaster,” he said, adding “I see no reason why Chinese troops should be sitting in our territory.”
Claiming that PM Modi did not handle China “well at all”, Gandhi asked: “How would America react if a neighbour occupied 4,000 square kilometres of its territory? Would any president be able to get away with saying he’s handled that well?”