hinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) meets with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, Sept. 16, 2021. (Xinhua)
NEW DELHI – India and China came together again on Friday in New Delhi as their foreign ministers called for diplomacy and dialogue to end the Ukrainian crisis. Analysts welcomed the positive meeting and over-due exchanges between the two neighboring giants.
External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, after holding official talks with visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, said: “On Ukraine, we discussed our respective approaches and perspective but agreed that diplomacy and dialogue must be the priority." Both sides emphasized the importance of a ceasefire in Ukraine.
The two countries have shared similar stance on the Russian-Ukraine conflict over the past month, including at United Nations.
Wang, arriving late Thursday evening, also met National Security Adviser Ajit Doval on Friday. The meetings went into detailed and candid discussions over a number of bilateral issues, especially the border stand-off.
READ MORE: Wang's India visit carries significance for bilateral ties, global affairs
This is the first visit by a high-profile Chinese official since the Galwan Valley clash of border soldiers where both sides suffered casualties in June 2020.
Restoration of peace and tranquility will help build mutual trust and create enabling environment for progress in relations.
Ajit Doval, National Security Adviser
The visit is a positive step “as it came after a long time and it was long overdue,” noted Ritu Agarwal, an associate professor at the Centre for East Asian Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, or JNU, in New Delhi.
In this fast-changing global situation China needs to reformulate its strategy towards Asian neighbors specially India, Agrarwal said.
Jaishankar said he and Wang “met for about three hours and addressed a broad substantive agenda in an open and candid manner”.
The Indian hosts brought the border issue prominently during the discussions with Wang.
People familiar with the developments said the senior diplomats agreed that interactions on diplomatic and military levels for restoration of peace and tranquility need to continue.
New Delhi has stressed that business between the two countries can hardly be as usual until issues like the border stand-off are resolved on mutually acceptable terms. China has pointed out the border issue is only part of the whole picture of bilateral relations.
Thousands of Indian and Chinese troops are deployed on their high-altitude border. The continuation of the present situation is not in our mutual interest," a source quoted Doval as saying.
"Restoration of peace and tranquility will help build mutual trust and create enabling environment for progress in relations," Doval said.
A big responsibility of Indian diplomacy, therefore, is to create the widest set of options for such contingencies, Jaishankar said later.
Both sides agreed on the importance of early and complete disengagement in remaining areas to take forward bilateral ties. Earlier dozen rounds of talks were held between the senior military officers of the two sides to defuse the tension.
ALSO READ: Xi says China-India relations at new starting pointLeaders from both sides emphasized the need to continue positive interactions at diplomatic, military levels for restoration of peace, sources said.
Issues like Indian students stranded in China were also discussed. "I also took up strongly the predicament of Indian students studying in China who haven't been allowed to return citing COVID-19 restrictions," Jaishankar said while talking to the media after the meeting. “We hope China will take a non-discriminatory approach since it involves future of many young people.”
The Chinese foreign minister assured to resolve the issue like Indian students stranded in China and will take up the matter on his return, Jaishankar said.
Wang is visiting Nepal after India.
Aparajit Chakraborty is a freelance journalist for China Daily.