India-China border 'generally stable', both sides should push for further easing of tensions: Chinese FM Qin to Jaishankar

Beijing: Foreign Minister Qin Gang reiterated China'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 LAC.

In his talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar at Benaulim in Goa on the sidelines of the meeting of the SCO Foreign Ministers 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 tranquillity in the border areas” Qin was quoted as saying by a press release on his talks with Jaishankar issued here on Friday said.

In a tweet after the talks, Jaishankar said the focus remained on resolving outstanding issues and ensuring peace and tranquillity 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 Line of Actual Control (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, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

China is willing to work with India to carry out bilateral consultation and exchange, enhance dialogue and cooperation under multilateral frameworks, and deepen coordination and collaboration on international and regional issues, Qin said.

Qin also said China supports India in hosting a successful SCO summit and hopes that India, as the current chair, will display the spirit of solidarity and collaboration and play a positive role in making the summit a success.

The two sides also exchanged views on international and regional issues of common concern, the press release added.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told his Chinese counterpart General Li Shangfu at a recent meeting that China's violation of existing border agreements "eroded" the entire basis of ties between the two countries and that all issues relating to the frontier must be resolved in accordance with the existing pacts.

The meeting on April 27 took place in New Delhi on the sidelines of a conclave of the SCO defence ministers.

Days ahead of the meeting between the two defence ministers, the Indian and Chinese armies held the 18th round of talks on ending the border row.

In the Corps Commander talks on April 23, the two sides agreed to stay in close touch and work out a mutually acceptable solution to the remaining issues in eastern Ladakh at the earliest.

However, there was no indication of any clear forward movement in ending the three-year row.

The ties between India and China nosedived significantly following the fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades.

India has been maintaining that the relationship between the two countries should be based on "three mutuals" - mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutual interests.

The eastern Ladakh border standoff erupted on May 5, 2020, following a violent clash in the Pangong Lake area.

As a result of a series of military and diplomatic talks, the two sides completed the disengagement process in 2021 on the north and south banks of the Pangong Lake and in the Gogra area.