 "How S Jaishankar’s visit to China points to a continued thawing of ties")
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is in China.
Jaishankar is in China to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting of the foreign ministers.
In the backdrop of Jaishankar’s visit to China, let’s take a closer look at how India-China ties are improving.
A brief look at Jaishankar’s visit
First, let’s take a brief look at Jaishankar’s visit to China.
The external affairs minister is in the city of Tianjin.
He is making his first such visit to the neighbouring country since the Galvan Valley clash in 2020.
India and China share a 3,800-kilometre border in the Himalayas.
Jaishankar’s trip taken in concert with Rajnath’s visit last month, indicates that the thaw between the two countries seems to be lasting
Jaishankar met Chinese Vice President Han Zheng on Monday .
Jaishankar during the meeting reiterated New Delhi’s support for Beijing’s presidency of the SCO.
The SCO is a China-led multilateral group comprising nine permanent members including India, Pakistan, Russia and Iran .
China is the current chair of the SCO. It is hosting the meetings of the grouping in that capacity.
“Pleased to meet Vice President Han Zheng soon after my arrival in Beijing today, and conveyed India’s support for China’s SCO Presidency. Noted the improvement in our bilateral ties. And expressed confidence that discussions during my visit will maintain that positive trajectory,” Jaishankar wrote on X.
“The international situation, as we meet today, is very complex. As neighbouring nations and major economies, an open exchange of views and perspectives between India and China is very important. I look forward to such discussions during this visit,” Jaishankar said.
The external affair ministers’ meeting will be held tomorrow (July 15).
Jaishankar is set to hold a bilateral meet with his counterpart Wang Yi before the summit.
The two men previously met on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa.
They will hold wide-ranging talks on a number of issues including the Dalai Lama , rare earth materials, resuming flights between the two countries and the recent conflict between India and Pakistan.
He and Wang will also lay the groundwork for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s likely China trip for the SCO summit.
Wang may also visit India this month to hold a fresh round of talks with NSA Ajit Doval under the framework of Special Representatives (SR) dialogue on the boundary dispute.
Jaishankar is set to hold several other bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit.
Kailash Mansorvar resumes
Jaishankar pointed to the resumption of the Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra as a positive development.
The resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra is widely appreciated in India”, Jaishankar said during the meeting. “Continued normalisation of our ties can produce mutually beneficial outcomes”, he added.
The yatra was initially suspended during the Covid-19 pandemic.
After the Galwan Valley clash caused the relationship between India and China to nosedive, the yatra remained suspended.
India and China had announced the resumption of the yatra to Mount Kailash and Mansarovar Lake in Tibet during Rajnath’s visit last month.
“Expressed my happiness on restarting of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra after a gap of nearly six years. It is incumbent on both the sides to maintain this positive momentum and avoid adding new complexities in the bilateral relationship,” Rajnath wrote on X after the announcement.
Rajnath visit
Jaishankar’s visit comes weeks after Rajnath visited Qingdao in June.
The defence minister did so for an SCO meet of defence ministers.
That was the first such visit by a senior Indian official to China since 2020 and the first visit by an Indian defence minister to China in over a decade.
Rajnath during his trip met Chinese counterpart Admiral Dong Jun and presented him a four-pronged approach for better ties.
This included following the 2024 Disengagement Agreement to the letter, continuing efforts at de-escalation , accelerating efforts to demarcate and delimit and bridging trust deficit.
“Held talks with Admiral Don Jun, the Defence Minister of China, on the sidelines of SCO Defence Ministers’ Meeting in Qingdao. We had a constructive and forward looking exchange of views on issues pertaining to bilateral relations,” Rajnath wrote on social media.
Rajnath had also presented Dong with a Madhubani painting from Bihar.
The painting, which comes from the Mithila region, is known for its line drawings filled in with bright colours and contrasts or patterns.
Such paintings are popular because of their tribal motifs and use of bright earthy colours.
However, Rajnath had refused to sign the SCO statement as there was no mention of the Pahalgam terror attack.
Border de-escalation
Jaishankar is also likely to speak to Wang about de-escalation at the border.
Rajnath during his trip had called for a “structured roadmap of permanent engagement and de-escalation” as well as a “permanent solution of border demarcation”.
India and China previously met at a high-level to work on the disengagement process at Demchok and Depsang Plains in October 2024.
Jaishankar also noted that the relationship between India and China has been on a firmer footing since the meeting between Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in October.
The two leaders had met on the sidelines of the summit in Kazan.
The decision to resume talks under the Special Representatives (SR) mechanism was taken during this meeting.
What do experts say?
They say India thinks this is the right time to reach out to China given recent events in Washington.
“India thought it would be a very close strategic ally [of the US] but they were not getting the support they were expecting from Washington,” professor Christopher Clary of University of Albany in New York told BBC.
“In recent years, China has also significantly increased its influence in other multilateral organisations like the SCO and the Brics grouping of emerging economies,” Phunchok Stobdan, a former senior Indian diplomat, added.
India sees this as the pragmatic approach, he added.
“At the same time, it does not want to be seen yielding too much to the Chinese demands for domestic reasons,” he adds.
However, all isn’t smooth sailing just yet.
Jaishankar’s visit also comes in the backdrop of China taking offence over some in India’s remarks on the Dalai Lama, who celebrated his 90th birthday last week.
“They should be fully cognizant of the sensitivity of issues related to Xizang, and that the reincarnation and succession of the Dalai Lama is inherently an internal affair of China, brooking no interference of any external forces,” Yu said_._
With inputs from agencies
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