Mansarovar, river water data sharing, direct flights: India, China talk next steps

Weeks after disengaging troops at Depsang and Demchok along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, India and China have discussed the resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage besides better sharing of data on trans-border rivers.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi met on the sidelines of the G20 Leaders’ Summit at Rio de Janeiro in Brazil on Monday night and discussed “next steps” towards improving the bilateral ties. They deliberated on the resumption of direct flights between the two countries. The flights were suspended in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The two sides also decided to soon convene a meeting of the Special Representatives — National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Wang Yi — on the boundary issue after five years. The Foreign Secretary of India and his counterpart, the Vice Minister in China, will also hold talks. The 22nd round of Special Representatives talks were held in New Delhi on December 21, 2019.

The annual Hindu pilgrimage to the holy site in Tibet, located north of Uttarakhand, was last conducted in the summer of 2019. India further wants better sharing of data on trans-border rivers. The Tsangpo (Brahmaputra), Indus and Sutlej, among others, originate in Tibet and flow into India.

This is the first high-level engagement between the two sides after the completion of the disengagement process at the two friction points along the LAC. “The two ministers felt it was imperative that the focus should be on stabilising ties, managing differences and taking the next steps,” said the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in a statement today.

“The ministers recognised that the disengagement in border areas had contributed to the maintenance of peace and tranquillity. The discussions focused on the next steps in India-China relations,” the MEA said.

At an event in New Delhi on Saturday, Jaishankar had termed the India-China relationship “complicated”. He had referred to the developments at the LAC and said “disengagement” of troops was just “disengagement, nothing more or nothing less”. The minister had added de-escalation along the LAC would be the next step following the disengagement process.

At the Rio meeting, Jaishankar said: “India and China have both differences and convergences…. India’s foreign policy has been principled and consistent, marked by independent thought and action.”

In a subtle message to China, the minister said: “We are against unilateral approaches to establish dominance.” But he went on to assure Beijing that “India does not view its relationships through the prism of other nations”.

India, he said, was strongly committed to a multipolar world, including a multipolar Asia. The MEA statement said Wang Yi concurred with Jaishankar that India-China relations had a particular salience in the world politics. “He noted that our leaders had agreed in Kazan on the way forward,” it said.

The MEA said the two countries had worked constructively in the BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) framework. The cooperation at the G20 had also been evident.

Need to focus on stabilising ties, managing differences

The two ministers felt that it was imperative that the focus should be on stabilising ties, managing differences and taking the next steps. — Ministry of External Affairs statement