Indo-China standoff: All eyes on Jaishankar-Yi in-person meet at Russia

New Delhi, Aug 28: New Delhi is considering sending External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar to Russia next month. He would have a chance to meet with China's foreign minister, Wang Yi and discuss steps on how to resolve the border crisis.

If all goes as per plan, Jaishankar's meeting with Yi would take place anytime between September 9 and 11. This could also be the first in-person meeting of the two leaders. It may be recalled that the two had met through video conferencing on June 23 at the RIC Foreign Ministers meet. Two days after the Galwan Valley clash, Jaishankar and Yi also spoke over phone on June 17.

Spokesperson, Ministry of External Affairs, Anurag Srivastava told reporters that Jaishankar had received an invitation to participate in a meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Moscow next month. As soon as we have our decision on his participation, we will inform you, he also said.

On September 4, Russia's Foreign Minister, Sergey Larvov will chair the meeting of the BRICS Foreign Ministers via video conference. This meeting would be attended by Jaishankar and Yi and they would exchange views on topical international matters.

Amidst the standoff there are hectic parleys in New Delhi. There is a lot of activity between New Delhi and Beijing through interlocutors from Russia. The MEA spokesperson said that all border situations were resolved through diplomacy. When it comes to finding a solution, this must be predicated on honouring all agreements and understandings. There should be no attempt to alter status-quo unilaterally he also said.