- Saturday, March 01, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang on Thursday (4) reiterated his country’s view that the situation at the India-China border is “generally stable” and said that both sides should take joint action to further ease and cool down the border situation and maintain sustainable peace along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between them.
Speaking to his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar at Benaulim in the western Indian state of Goa on the sidelines of the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) foreign ministers’ meeting on Thursday, Qin restated China’s oft-repeated recent stance that the current situation on the China-India border is generally stable, in an apparent reference to the ongoing military standoff in eastern Ladakh which brought the relations to a standstill.
“Both sides should continue to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, consolidate the existing achievements, strictly abide by relevant agreements, take joint action to further ease and cool down the border situation and maintain sustainable peace and tranquility in the border areas” Qin was quoted as saying by a press release on his talks with Jaishankar issued in Beijing on Friday (5) said.
In a tweet after the talks, Jaishankar said the focus remained on resolving outstanding issues and ensuring peace and tranquility in the border areas.
“A detailed discussion with State Councillor and FM Qin Gang of China on our bilateral relationship. The focus remains on resolving outstanding issues and ensuring peace and tranquillity in the border areas,” he said.
The Indian and the Chinese troops are locked in a standoff at a few friction points along the LAC in eastern Ladakh for the last three years though they disengaged in several places following a series of military and diplomatic talks.
The meeting between Qin and Jaishankar was their second in the last two months. The Chinese foreign minister visited India in March to attend a meeting of the G20 foreign ministers.
Calling for joint efforts with India to bring bilateral relations back on track with stable and sound development, Qin said the “two sides should learn from history and handle bilateral relations from a strategic and long-term perspective”.
He called on the two neighbours to respect, learn from and reinforce each other, and embark on a new path of harmonious coexistence, peaceful development and common revitalisation, contributing to their respective national rejuvenation and injecting stability and positive energy into world peace and development, China’s state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
(With PTI inputs)
