What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
Indian NSA holds bilateral talks with his Chinese counterpart, raises continuing standoff along the LAC
NEW DELHI: National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, during a recent meeting, told his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi that the continuing standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) has eroded strategic trust between the two south Asian powers.
During a bilateral meeting with Yi on the sidelines of the BRICS NSAs’ gathering in South Africa’s Johannesburg, Doval also said that the border dispute has hit the public and political foundation of the India-China relationship.
READ MORE: Two Chinese nationals arrested for illegal entry at India-Nepal border
“The NSA emphasized the importance of continuing efforts to fully resolve the situation and restore peace and tranquility in the border areas, so as to remove impediments to normalcy in bilateral relations,” according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
Doval and Yi agreed that the India-China bilateral relationship is significant not “only for the two countries but also for the region and world”.
This rare interaction follows external affairs minister Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar’s meeting with Yi on July 14 during ASEAN-related meetings in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Relations between India and China nosedived after their troops fought with nail-studded mace and iron rods in the Galwan Valley along the LAC, claiming the lives of 20 Indian and an undisclosed number of Chinese troops. Several reports have put the Chinese casualties between 38 and 45.
READ MORE: PM Modi, President Putin discuss Ukraine, situation in Russia
Even after 17 round of military-level talks and hectic diplomatic engagements, India and China have yet to fully disengage and remain stationed dangerously close to each other in several areas on the northern border.
After the Russia-Ukraine war broke out, India and China look eager to normalize their ties as the world order undergoes a massive churning. India has maintained that return of normalcy at the border is a precondition for bilateral relations to improve.
