S Jaishankar Meets Chinese Foreign Minister, Border Issue In Focus
The Line of Actual Control issue was the main topic of conversation between visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Thursday (LAC). The conversations happened concurrently with the G20 Foreign Ministers' Conference. "On the margins of the G20 this afternoon, I spoke with Qin Gang, the foreign minister of China. Our conversations were centred on resolving existing issues in the bilateral relationship, particularly the peace and quiet in the border regions "Tweeted by Mr. Jaishankar. After Qin's appointment as China's foreign minister in December, this is their first encounter.The discussions took place close to eight months after Mr. Jaishankar met with Wang Yi, the country's then-foreign minister, outside of a G20 summit in Bali. Mr. Jaishankar informed Wang during their hour-long discussion on July 7 of the need of resolving the remaining concerns in eastern Ladakh. Wang had been informed by the minister of external affairs that the two nations' relationship should be built on "three mutuals": mutual respect, mutual sensitivity, and mutual interests. Earlier this year, in March, Wang travelled to India. On February 22, India and China had face-to-face diplomatic negotiations in Beijing where they "openly and constructively" reviewed options for disengagement at the last remaining flashpoints along the LAC in eastern Ladakh. The Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Issues provided the basis for the conference (WMCC).
