Updated: September 6, 2020 6:11:42 am
S Jaishankar with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. (Photo: PTI / Archive)
The day after the Defense Ministers of India and China met in Moscow, the highest-level face-to-face meeting between the two sides since the Ladakh clash began in early May, officials in New Delhi indicated that they are observing whether General Wei Fenghe has the clout to influence Beijing. top brass in full disconnect and de-scaled along the actual control line.
While both sides held their stated positions and blamed each other in official statements issued after the meeting, Delhi will await the next steps on the ground. There is an opinion within the Southern Bloc that this time the Chinese will be tested on the sincerity of their commitment to solving the crisis, especially after Indian troops occupied strategic points throughout LAC in the sector of Chushul.
As of Friday, talks had been held in person between military commanders and diplomats. The conversations at the level of Chancellor and National Security Advisor were conducted via videoconference. But the talks failed to provide a breakthrough, barring some initial disconnect after Special Representatives, NSA Ajit Doval and Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a video conference on July 5.
There has been no progress on the ground since mid-July. But after Indian troops occupied heights in the Chushul sector to dominate the area, this was a preemptive move to block Chinese attempts to occupy those vacant heights, the spire moved on Thursday when Wei Fenghe sought a meeting with the minister. Defense, Rajnath Singh.
The Indian side accepted the meeting and the two ministers met in Moscow on the sidelines of a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
New Delhi believes that after India occupied heights on the south bank of Pangong Tso and Rechin La, they “leveled the table”: the Chinese had occupied heights on finger 4 and the stretch between finger 4 and finger 8 on the bank. north of the lake. .
Read | India Insists on Total Backlash, Warns Against Further Action; China targets lost territory
Officials said India can now negotiate from a position of strength, as the Chinese have been reluctant to part ways with the north shore of Pangong, Gogra Post and the Depsang Plains. The troops of the two armies are within firing range of each other in the Chushul sector, where tanks and artillery have also been deployed.
With both sides contemplating maintaining their positions during Ladakh’s harsh winter, the Moscow meeting indicates a certain sense of urgency to disconnect.
Indian officials say the thing to watch is to what extent Wei can influence the top brass in Beijing. The Chinese Defense Minister is not as powerful as the Indian Defense Minister in calculating civil-military leadership.
Read | Rajnath Singh arrives in Tehran to discuss defense ties with his Iranian counterpart
In the China Central Military Commission (CMC), the top-ranking military body, President Xi Jinping is its chairman, while two vice-presidents, Xu Qiliang and Zhang Youxia, surpass Wei Fenghe.
Wei is one of the four members, along with General Li Zuocheng, Admiral Miao Hua, and General Zhang Shengmin.
In contrast, Singh is number 2 in the Union Cabinet pecking order, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
One factor relied upon by Indian strategic planners is already widespread PLA. China’s eastern border is quite active because the Taiwan issue has been at the center of the scene in recent months, and the extent of the deployment that the Chinese can carry out on its southwestern border is being observed in New Delhi.
The international environment is also a challenge for the Chinese establishment. While the US administration under President Donald Trump, facing a deeply polarized election at home, has been hostile to the Communist Party of China (CCP), a network of strategic and like-minded countries: Japan, Australia, India and Europe ( Germany just launched its Indo-Pacific strategy) – they are preparing to counter the Chinese. At a time like this, New Delhi feels that it will be difficult for Beijing to escalate the situation throughout LAC.
While all of these factors are being considered before the next steps are taken, what has also emerged is the emergence of Russia as a neutral ground for Indian and Chinese leaders to engage with each other. This has been evident since June, when Russia emerged as a key diplomatic actor amid the tensions between India and China.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov organized the trilateral meeting of Foreign Ministers between Russia, India and China on June 23, the first opportunity for Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and Foreign Minister China Foreign Wang Yi meet by video conference, after the confrontation in the Galwan Valley.
Moscow hosted Rajnath Singh and Wei in the Victory Day parade on June 24, along with marching contingents of Indians and Chinese.
And next week, after the Singh-Wei meeting, Jaishankar will be there for a meeting of the SCO Foreign Ministers from 9-11 September. This sets the stage for a possible Jaishankar-Wang meeting in Moscow. And that meeting, if it takes place, could be the key to unlocking the situation throughout LAC.
📣 The Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@indianexpress) and stay up to date with the latest headlines
For the latest news about India, download the Indian Express app.
© The Indian Express (P) Ltd
.
