India-Chinese Foreign Minister Meeting: Calls for ‘Normalised’ Border Management

Reiterating that border issues should not impact bilateral ties, China’s new foreign minister Qin Gang conveyed that border “normalisation” by India at an early date could increase exchanges and resumption of direct flights.

Qin met with the Indian external affairs minister S. Jaishankar on Thursday on the sidelines of the G-20 foreign ministers meeting. This was the first meeting since Qin was appointed foreign minister in January. Although the meeting took place on Thursday, the Chinese readout came a day later, on Friday.

Speaking to reporters, Jaishankar had said that the bulk of their 45-minute conversation was “about the current state of our relationship, which many of you have heard me describe as abnormal”. “Those were among the adjectives that I used in that meeting,” he added.

“It is necessary to put the border issue in an appropriate position in bilateral relations and promote the border situation to be normalised and controlled at an early date,” said the Chinese foreign ministry’s statement on the meeting.

Qin also told Jaishankar that Beijing was “willing to speed up the resumption of exchanges and cooperation with the Indian side in various fields, resume direct flights as soon as possible, and facilitate personnel exchanges”.

The Chinese foreign minister also stated that both countries had more common interests than differences. “The two sides should view bilateral relations against the backdrop of a century of world changes, grasp bilateral cooperation from the perspective of China’s and India’s respective national rejuvenation, and be partners on the road to modernisation.”

He asserted that the two countries “implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, maintain dialogue, properly handle differences, and promote the improvement of bilateral relations as soon as possible and move forward steadily”.

According to the Chinese statement, the Indian minister said the border situation was “gradually stabilising, and the two sides should make joint efforts to maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas”.

Jaishankar also said, as per the readout from the Chinese foreign ministry, that the “Indian side agrees that bilateral relations should be grasped and improved from a historical perspective and strategic perspective, and more cooperation platforms should be built to promote India-China relations on a good track”.

Further, he told Qin that both countries have been “important partners of each other” and the cooperation in economic, trade, and other fields have achieved “positive results”.