The Road Ahead : External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar Meets Chinese Counterart Wang Yi ; MEA Terms Talks As Constructive And Forward Looking

India and China should build on “good progress” in normalising the bilateral ties to address border-related issues including de-escalation, and it is essential to avoid “restrictive trade measures and roadblocks”, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said during talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.

In his opening remarks at the meeting, Jaishankar said the bilateral relations can develop in a “positive trajectory” on the foundation that differences should not become disputes and nor should competition become a conflict, adding that the ties can be built only on the basis of mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity.

The external affairs minister said India hopes “zero tolerance for terrorism” will be upheld at the upcoming meeting of the SCO, noting that its primary mandate is to combat terrorism, separatism and extremism, comments seen as a reference to Pakistan’s support to cross-border terrorism.

In New Delhi, the ministry of external affairs, describing the talks as “constructive and forward-looking”, said the two sides agreed to take “additional practical steps”, including travel to each other’s country and direct flight connectivity, for facilitating people-to-people exchanges.

Jaishankar met Wang hours after he landed in China on a two-day visit to attend a conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). It is his first visit to the neighbouring country since bilateral ties witnessed severe downturn following the Galwan Valley clashes in June 2020.

The MEA said the external affairs minister underlined the need for cooperation on trans-border rivers, including the resumption of the provision of hydrological data by the Chinese side.