New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar held three-hour long talks with his visiting Chinese counterpart Wang Yi here on Friday, describing the talks as “broad and substantive” but admitting bilateral ties making progress at a slower pace than desirable.
At a special briefing after the talks, Dr. Jaishankar candidly admitted that the relationship is “not normal’” as there is friction on the border. He described the ties as “Work in Progress.”
“Frictions, tensions rising from Chinese deployments since April 2020 cannot be reconciled with a normal relationship. Restoration of peace and tranquility must find full expression in talks,” the Minister told the media persons.
“If you ask me if our relationship today is normal, then my answer is ‘no it is not normal”, he added. He said that since April 2020 the relationship with China is disturbed as there is a large deployment of troops at the border.
“So long as there are large deployments in the border areas in violation of 1993 and 1996 agreements, the situation is not normal. We have a situation where peace and tranquility in the border have been disturbed,” Dr. Jaishankar said.
Responding to questions, the Minister said that in Ladakh, there were still ongoing friction areas and there was “progress in other areas”.
He said the Chinese Foreign Minister was apprised by him about the national sentiments and clearly told that there cannot be normal relations till peace and tranquility prevailed at the border. He said that India wanted stable and predictable relations with China. He said that 15 rounds of talks between senior commanders of India and China have already been held and there has been some progress but the pace was slower than desirable. “We want this issue to be sorted out in entirety, disengagement and descalation are the primary aims,” he added.
Dr. Jaishankar said that contemporary issues, regional situation, Ukraine situation as well as UN reforms also came up during discussion.
On Ukraine where Russia’s invasion and war has entered second month, the Minister said: “I explained India’s perspective.”
Dr Jaishankar said he had also raised India’s objections to Wang’s comments on Kashmir at the OIC event.
Before winding up his visit, the Chinese Foreign Minister also had a meeting with the National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.