NEW DELHI: Foreign Minister S Jaishankar met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Dushanbe on Wednesday and agreed to discuss all outstanding issues regarding tensions on the border at a meeting of military commanders and seek a mutually acceptable solution.
The meeting on the sidelines of the SCO ministerial conference took place amidst reports of the PLA reoccupying some of the posts it had vacated along the LAC in the winters.
Jaishankar pointed out to Wang that their earlier hopes had been belied. “The successful disengagement in Pangong Lake area earlier this year had created conditions for resolving the remaining issues. It was expected the Chinese side would work with us towards this objective. However, the situation in remaining areas is still unresolved,” said the MEA’s readout on the talks.
Attempting to pick up the threads afresh, the two ministers noted the agreement in the last meeting of the WMCC on June 25 to hold another round of the meeting of senior military commanders.
“They agreed this should be convened at the earliest. They also agreed that in this meeting, the two sides should discuss all the remaining issues and seek a mutually acceptable solution. There was also an understanding that both sides will continue to ensure stability on the ground and neither side will take any unilateral action that could increase tension,” said the readout.
The two Ministers had made similar commitments as at Dushanbe during their last meeting in Moscow on September 10, 2020.
Jaishankar referred to this aspect and emphasised the need to follow through on the agreement reached then and complete the disengagement, resolving the remaining issues along the LAC in eastern Ladakh at the earliest.
The minister recalled that both sides had agreed that a prolongation of the existing situation was not in the interest of either side. It was visibly impacting the relationship in a negative manner.
China asked Afghanistan to make a ‘clean break’ from all terrorist forces, including Qaida-backed Uighur Muslim militant group.