Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, will meet face-to-face at least three times in Moscow on Thursday, with the focus on a bilateral meeting that is seen as key to reducing tensions throughout the line of the real. Control (LAC).
Jaishankar and Wang will participate in a meeting of foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on Thursday morning, followed by a luncheon of foreign ministers of the Russia-India-China (RIC) grouping.
The day will be crowned by the bilateral meeting, the first between Jaishankar and Wang since the fighting began in the Ladakh sector in May. The two leaders spoke by phone on June 17, two days after the deadly clash in the Galwan Valley that left 20 Indian soldiers dead and caused an unknown number of Chinese casualties.
Before leaving for Russia on Tuesday, Jaishankar stressed the need for political contacts to reduce tensions and end the stalemate in the disengagement process throughout LAC. The confrontation goes against all understandings about border management dating back to 1993 and the dire situation calls for “very deep talks … at the political level,” he said.
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Wang will hold bilateral meetings and attend the luncheon of the foreign ministers of China, Russia and India, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a press conference in Beijing. When asked specifically about the bilateral meeting between Jaishankar and Wang, he declined to go into details.
“During [the SCO] meeting … Wang Yi will discuss with the foreign ministers of other member states of the SCO cooperation amid Covid-19 and exchange views on major international and regional issues, ”Zhao said.
The RIC meeting between Jaishankar, Wang and their Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov acquires significance as Moscow has pushed for dialogue between New Delhi and Beijing to ease border tensions. Given its good ties with India and China, Russia also doesn’t want to be forced to take sides, experts said.
Roman Babushkin, the Russian deputy chief of mission, said on Tuesday that his country was not mediating directly between India and China, but was “focusing on creating a positive atmosphere through SCO, Brics and RIC for practical cooperation.” . He added: “Any kind of dialogue would be better than escalation.”
The SCO letter has no scope to discuss bilateral disputes, although the grouping is a “comfortable platform” to build common ground and mutual trust, he said. Babushkin noted that Defense Minister Rajnath Singh had met with his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe on the sidelines of another SCO meeting in Moscow last week.
Russia, he said, will foster outcomes that give impetus to further de-escalation and disengagement. “We are very hopeful that sooner rather than later, India and China will find a mutually acceptable solution to the border crisis,” he said.
The latest clash on the southern shore of Pangong Lake, during which shots were fired across LAC for the first time in 45 years, has complicated efforts to lower the temperature along the disputed border. The Chinese side has been rocked by India’s proactive action to take a series of strategic heights since the weekend.
India has said Chinese troops tried to approach an outpost on Monday and fired into the air when deterred. The Chinese side fell back again on Wednesday, and people familiar with the events said Indian troops had “illegally” crossed LAC, “made provocations” and were “the first to open fire without a justified reason.”
Experts believe that the meeting between Jaishankar and Wang is unlikely to result in an immediate breakthrough, although it could lay the groundwork for new political compromises to end the confrontation. Jaishankar is the oldest Indian envoy in Beijing, where he served for four and a half years since 2009, and has known Wang for a long time.
Wang Dehua, an expert on South Asia at the Shanghai Municipal Center for International Studies, said: “After the meeting of Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe and his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh in Moscow, the meeting of Foreign Ministers It is of great importance as tension along the border promotes relaxation while helping to reestablish relationships. Perhaps, it will generate an early meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping. ”
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