New Delhi: The disengagement by India and China, agreed to in October this year, will allow the countries to move on to discuss de-escalation, as well as further opening of ties in a “calibrated matter”, said External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar Tuesday.
In a statement to the Lok Sabha, Jaishankar said, “We are clear that the maintenance of peace and tranquility in the border areas is a prerequisite for the development of our ties. In the coming days, we will be discussing both de-escalation, as well as, effective management of our activities in border areas.”
He added, “The conclusion of the disengagement phase now allows us to consider other aspects of our bilateral engagement in a calibrated manner, keeping our national security interest, first and foremost.”
Jaishankar’s statement comes nearly 45 days after India first announced the agreement to disengage in the remaining friction areas, and the full restoration of patrolling and grazing rights in both Depsang and Demchok.
The final agreement in what the EAM called the “disengagement phase” was a result of 21 rounds of Corps Commanders negotiations and 17 rounds of negotiations by the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Boundary Affairs (WMCC) since June 2020, following the clashes at Galwan in the summer of that year.
The agreement of 21 October, which was first announced by foreign secretary Vikram Misri, paved the way for a bilateral meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Russian city of Kazan on the margins of the BRICS Summit on 23 October. This was the first full bilateral meeting between the two leaders in five years.
However, since the clashes at Galwan during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, all other areas of the bilateral relationship between India and China have been impacted.
China, in recent months, has been pushing for normalisation of ties, especially on issuance of visas to Chinese nationals, besides the removal of restrictions on direct flights between the two countries. India has maintained COVID-era measures of restriction of flights between the two countries, which has curtailed the market for Beijing’s domestic airlines.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi raised the issue of direct flights and more visas with Jaishankar during the meeting between the two on the margins of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in the Brazilian city of Rio De Janeiro on 18 November, 2024.
India also pushed for the resumption of the Kailash-Mansarovar yatra during the Jaishankar-Wang meet. Last month’s meeting between the two was their third meeting this year, following bilateral talks on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and ASEAN meetings in July.
Jaishankar also informed the Lok Sabha that the meetings between the Special Representatives on the Boundary Question—National Security Adviser Ajit Doval for India and Wang for China—is expected to be convened “soon”. The Modi-Xi meeting in October directed the resumption of talks at both the foreign minister and special representative levels.
The Indian Army carried out its first patrol at the Depsang Plains following the 21 October agreement. The verification patrols have been completed and the resumption of patrolling activities in the “traditional areas” is currently underway, according to Jaishankar.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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