India-China Relation: After the Galwan Valley conflict, the relations between Asia’s two superpowers India and China have been derailed for years. Many meetings have been held between the two countries to improve it. However, now there are signs of softening in it. India’s Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval have continuously taken initiatives for this. Now the statements coming from China are also indicating improvement in relations.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Friday that the standoff between the armies in four areas of eastern Ladakh has eased. In a meeting between India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Russia on Thursday on the sidelines of the meeting of senior officials of BRICS countries, both the countries have agreed to strengthen bilateral relations.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said that the representatives of the two countries also discussed the improvements made in the border issue. When Ming was asked whether bilateral relations, which have been sluggish for the last four years after the standoff between the armies of the two countries in eastern Ladakh, can get new momentum. Responding to the question, he said that the armies of both the countries have realized the need to maintain peace in four areas on the border. The situation on the border is stable right now.
Regarding the meeting between Doval and Wang, he said that both the countries believe that for peace and development, it is necessary to strengthen relations between the two countries. It should be noted that this statement of China has come a day after Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said in Geneva that 75 percent of the dispute with China has been resolved.
Chinese soldiers retreated to 4 points
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning was asked during a press conference on Friday whether the two countries are close to clearing the ice that has frozen bilateral relations for more than four years due to the military standoff in eastern Ladakh? To this, Mao said that both the armies have withdrawn from four areas and the situation on the border is stable. He said that troops have retreated in four places. The spokesperson said, “In recent years, the front-line troops of the two countries have completed the withdrawal from four points in the western sector of the China-India border, including the Galwan Valley. The situation on the China-India border is generally stable and under control.”
His remarks came a day after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s statement in Geneva. Jaishankar had said that about 75 per cent of the problems related to the withdrawal of troops with China have been resolved, but the bigger issue is the increasing militarization on the border.
What did Jaishankar say?
In a dialogue session with the think tank ‘Geneva Center for Security Policy’ in Switzerland, Jaishankar said that the clashes in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 affected India-China relations in a holistic way. He said that no one can say that after the violence on the border, the rest of the relations are untouched by it. The Foreign Minister said that talks are going on between the two sides to find a solution to the problem.
He said, “Now those talks are going on. We have made some progress. You can roughly say that about 75 percent of the problems related to the withdrawal of troops have been resolved.” Jaishankar said in response to a question, “We still have to do some things.”
Let us tell you that the deadlock between the Indian and Chinese armies has been going on since May 2020 and the border dispute has not been fully resolved yet. However, both sides have withdrawn their troops from many points of conflict. Relations between the two countries deteriorated after the fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020. This was the most serious military conflict between the two sides after decades.
India’s clear stand is that as long as there is no peace in the border areas, its relations with China cannot be normal. So far, 21 rounds of Corps Commander level talks have taken place between the two sides to resolve the deadlock.
