China and India should put the border issue in its “appropriate” place and bring the situation under “normalized control,” Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang told External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in New Delhi on Thursday.
He also said that We should put the border issue in its proper place in bilateral relations and promote the early transition of the border situation to normalized control.
Direct flights between the two countries have been suspended since March 2020, when China closed its international borders due to a Covid-19 outbreak.
Following the lifting of Covid-19-related restrictions in recent months, Beijing has resumed direct flights with several countries, including South Asian countries such as Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Many see the continued suspension of flights between India and China as a symptom of the worst chill in bilateral relations since the Galwan Valley incident in June 2020, when India lost 20 soldiers and China at least four troops in a brutal fight over a disputed section of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.
In explaining New Delhi’s consistent stance on the ongoing dispute, the Indian minister was direct with his Chinese counterpart.
Since the border standoff began in May 2020, New Delhi has consistently dismissed Beijing’s allegations of provocative behavior, claiming that it was the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) that trespassed across the LAC in eastern Ladakh, causing the tension.
According to the Chinese readout, “the current border situation between the two countries is gradually stabilizing, and both sides should work together to maintain peace and tranquillity in the border area.”
Indian and Chinese border troops clashed as recently as December 9 last year in the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh, thousands of kilometers from Ladakh, a clear sign of mistrust and suspicion not only between the two armies but also between New Delhi and Beijing.
Although frontline soldiers have disengaged from the majority of the flashpoints that were the focal point of the conflict in 2020, thousands of troops are still positioned on both sides of the LAC.
Qin went on to say that China and India have a lot in common when it comes to protecting developing countries’ rights and interests, promoting South-South cooperation, and addressing global challenges like climate change.
