External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is set to meet his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Thursday, marking their first encounter in nearly a year amid the ongoing military standoff at the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Both ministers are in Astana for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit, taking place on July 3-4. Jaishankar is representing India in the absence of the Prime Minister, while Wang is part of President Xi Jinping’s delegation.
While there has been no official announcement from either India or China regarding the meeting, sources familiar with the matter have indicated that Jaishankar and Wang are expected to hold talks on Thursday morning before Jaishankar returns to India.
This meeting presents an opportunity for both sides to assess the current situation along the LAC, where tensions have persisted for over four years. The deadly clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020, which resulted in the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers and at least four Chinese troops, significantly deteriorated bilateral relations. The last brief encounter between Jaishankar and Wang occurred on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Germany in February, and their last bilateral meeting was during the Asean-related meetings in Jakarta on July 14, 2023.
Indian leaders, including Jaishankar, have consistently stated that normalizing relations with China is contingent upon achieving peace and tranquillity at the border. Jaishankar has also attributed the current situation to China’s violation of border management agreements and the massing of troops along the LAC.
Conversely, during his meeting with Jaishankar last July, Wang emphasized that the overall relationship between the two countries should not be defined by specific issues. This reflects China’s stance that the LAC issue should be considered in its “appropriate place” within the broader relationship. Recently, China has also pushed for the resumption of direct flights to India and the easing of visa restrictions for Chinese nationals, particularly technical personnel working with manufacturing units in India. However, the Indian side has not indicated any intention to address these issues, linking them to the situation in the Ladakh sector, where both sides have deployed approximately 50,000 troops each.
Despite numerous rounds of diplomatic and military talks, India and China have been unable to resolve the remaining “friction points” along the LAC, such as Depsang and Demchok. The anticipated Jaishankar-Wang meeting could potentially pave the way for the next round of discussions on these unresolved issues.
