S Jaishankar Discusses India-China Border Issues with Wang Yi at SCO Summit in Astana

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met with Chinese counterpart Wang Yi at the SCO Summit in Astana, Kazakhstan. Jaishankar emphasized that the relationship between India and China is not normal and stressed the need for peace and tranquility at the border.

During their meeting, Jaishankar said, “We discussed the state of the relationship, which is not normal…two of us have been meeting fairly regularly since 2020, so that the disengagement issue needs to be completed. There are some pending outcomes…we have to find a way by which LAC is respected and peace and tranquility are ensured in the border area. You cannot disturb peace and tranquility and have a good relationship.”

Both leaders agreed to convene an early meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) to discuss the border situation. Jaishankar stated, “We both looked at it, the current situation is absolutely not helping the relationship…what we agreed at the end of it all was we would ask the mechanism, we call it WMCC (Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs), which deals with it to convene an early meeting.”

Speaking on the SCO Summit, Jaishankar said it was a ‘good one’ from both the perspective of the SCO as an organization and from India’s viewpoint. He noted that Iran and Belarus joined the meeting, and for the first time, an SCO+ meeting was held. Jaishankar highlighted the strong position taken by the SCO against terrorism and the establishment of an illegal narcotics countering center in Tajikistan. He also mentioned cooperation on energy and the environment.