New Delhi: Defence minister Rajnath Singh met his Chinese counterpart Admiral Dong Jun in Laos on Wednesday (November 20) for the first time since India and China reached a deal last month ending the border standoff between their troops in eastern Ladakh.
Their meeting on the sidelines of the ASEAN defence ministers’ meet in Vientiane came a day after external affairs minister S. Jaishankar met Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi and discussed, according to New Delhi, “the next steps in India-China relations”.
Referring to the deadly border clashes between Indian and Chinese soldiers in eastern Ladakh in 2020 as “unfortunate”, the Indian defence ministry said in a press release that Singh called for “reflecting on the lessons learnt” from the clashes as well as taking measures to prevent their recurrence and keep the border peaceful.
Singh underscored and looked forward to “greater trust and confidence-building between the two sides through de-escalation”, the defence ministry said, adding that both sides “agreed to work together towards a roadmap for rebuilding mutual trust and understanding”.
Political relations between New Delhi and Beijing froze after the 2020 clashes, which included a hand-to-hand skirmish that claimed the lives of at least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers.
A thaw in ties occurred as India announced on October 21 that it had reached a deal with China on patrolling arrangements between troops on either side at two remaining points of friction in Ladakh.
The deal, which involved disengagement between troops, paved the way for the first bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in five years on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia.
During his meeting with Dong, Singh said that “amicable relations” between India and China would have “positive implications for global peace and prosperity”, the defence ministry’s statement said.
It quoted him as saying that as India and China are neighbours, the two sides “need to focus on cooperation rather that conflict”.
Meeting his Chinese opposite number Wang in Brazil, Jaishankar said on Tuesday that he was “glad to note that on the ground, the implementation of that understanding [of October 21] has proceeded as planned”.
This was the first time an Indian official had used the term “understanding” for the October 21 deal. Both the Indian foreign secretary as well as the external affairs ministry’s readout of the Modi-Xi meeting had referred to an “agreement” for disengagement.
