Bilateral ties will succeed if borders are quiet, India to China

New Delhi, Sep 11: During the foreign minister level talks, India conveyed strongly to China that the bi-lateral agreements had been disregarded.

China's foreign minister, Wang Yi emphasised on the need for bilateral ties to continue. External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar made it clear that while bilateral ties are important, its effect could only be seen if the borders are quiet. He said that the positive bilateral ties in the past two decades were due to peace on the border.

Sources told OneIndia that the Indian foreign minister also said that the build up by the People's Liberation Army had a direct implication on the relations between the two countries.

The Indian delegation raised the issue of the Chinese People's Liberation Army(PLA) massing troops in eastern Ladakh as the two foreign ministers reached a five-point agreement that will guide the two countries in resolving the border standoff in eastern Ladakh.

The meeting in Moscow on Thursday evening lasted two-and-a-half hours.

Jaishankar and Wang were in the Russian capital to attend a meeting of foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

In the meeting, the Indian side highlighted its strong concern at the massing of Chinese troops with equipment along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

The presence of such large concentration of troops was not in accordance with the 1993 and 1996 Agreements and created flash points along the LAC. The Chinese side has not provided a credible explanation for this deployment.

China has deployed a large number of troops and weapons along the LAC in the last few weeks after the border standoff erupted in early May.

The Indian delegation also conveyed to the Chinese side that the provocative behaviour of the PLA at friction points on the LAC showed its disregard for bilateral agreements and protocols.

The foreign ministers of India and China underlined the importance of disengagement at the Line of Actual Control as the first step towards deescalation of tensions.

The military commanders of India and China will meet in the next couple of days to discuss disengagement from friction points along the LAC. While no date has been fixed as yet, sources said that there are some issues under discussion before the military commanders could meet.

The Ministry of External Affairs(MEA) issued a joint press statement early on Friday featuring five points which were agreed by both the sides at the "frank and constructive" discussions by the two ministers.

"The two foreign ministers agreed that the current situation in the border areas is not in the interest of either side. They agreed, therefore, that the border troops of both sides should continue their dialogue, quickly disengage, maintain proper distance and ease tensions," it said.

The joint statement said Jaishankar and Wang agreed that both sides should take guidance from the series of consensus reached between leaders of the two countries on developing India-China relations, including not allowing differences to become disputes.
This assessment was a clear reference to decisions taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping at their two informal summits in 2018 and 2019.

"The two ministers agreed that both sides shall abide by all the existing agreements and protocol on China-India boundary affairs, maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas and avoid any action that could escalate matters," the joint statement said.