India and China made good use of time during the sidelines of the G 20 Foreign Ministers meeting in Johannesburg, to discuss normalization of ties and peace management in border areas.
The discussion took place during a nearly thirty minute meeting between External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
The two ministers also reviewed the bilateral relationship from their previous meeting in November, on the sidelines of the G 20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
“The two ministers (foreign ministers of India and China) reviewed developments in a bilateral relationship since the last meeting in November. Specifically, the management of peace and tranquillity in border areas, Kailash Mansarovar yatra, flight connectivity and travel facilities were discussed,” said Randhir Jaiswal, official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), at a media briefing in New Delhi, on Friday.
The meeting between the two ministers comes amid efforts to normalise the relationship between India and China which saw a low following the Galwan clash in 2020.
It was only recently that India and China announced the plans on resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra pilgrimage in 2025 summer.
The decision was announced following a meeting between Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong.
The Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, a significant religious pilgrimage for Hindus, had been halted since 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and border issues.
The two countries also agreed to formulate a new air travel agreement.
Direct flights between the two nations had been suspended in 2020.
Notably, 2025 marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and China.
The two sides recognize that to mark this anniversary, public diplomacy efforts should be redoubled to create better awareness about each other and restore mutual trust and confidence among the public.
Jaishankar is in Johannesburg on a two-day visit to South Africa to participate in the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting at the Nasrec Expo Centre.
This is the first foreign ministers meeting in South Africa’s presidency.
South Africa assumed the G20 Presidency from December 1 2024 and will hold it till November 2025.
The theme of the meeting is ‘Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability.’
India shares 3,488 Km of border with China that runs along Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.
Earlier, Jaishankar posted pictures of his meeting with his Chinese counterpart, on X, “The G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting in Johannesburg provided an opportunity to meet CPC Politburo member and FM Wang Yi of China this morning on its sidelines.”
In comparisan to the calm and jovial Jaishankar, the Chinese Foreign Minister appeared stiff and guarded.
It is worth recalling what Jaishankar said in Parliament only two months back.
Briefing the Lok Sabha on recent developments that have seen the two sides disengage from along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), and enabled India to resume patrolling areas it claims as its own, Jaishankar said, “Continuous diplomatic engagement with China since then (Galwan clashes) has set out ties in the direction of some improvement.”
A fortnight later, the 23rd Meeting of the Special Representatives (SRs) of India and China, respectively Ajit Doval, National Security Advisor of India, and Wang Yi, Member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs, was held in Beijing.
According to the MEA, the Special Representatives (SRs) met in accordance with the decision taken during the meeting between Prime Minister Modi and President Xi Jinping in Kazan for them to meet at an early date to oversee the management of peace and tranquillity in border areas and to explore a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to the boundary question.
This was the first meeting of the SRs since friction had emerged in the Western Sector of the India-China border areas in 2020.
The SRs positively affirmed the implementation of the latest disengagement agreement of October 2024, resulting in patrolling and grazing in relevant areas.
Both SRs underlined the importance of maintaining peace and tranquillity in the border areas to promote overall development of the India-China bilateral relationship.
They emphasized the need to ensure peaceful conditions on the ground so that issues on the border do not hold back the normal development of bilateral relations.
The NSA also invited Wang Yi to visit India at a mutually convenient date to hold the next round of SR meeting.
The Special Representatives provided positive directions for cross-border cooperation and exchanges including resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, data sharing on trans-border rivers and border trade.
While addressing the G20 session titled ‘Discussion on the Global Geopolitical Situation’ on Thursday, Jaishankar said that G20 is an important expression of the world’s growing multi-polarity.
He drew attention to the difficult global geopolitical situation.
“But the very purpose of diplomacy – and a group like G-20 – is to find common ground and create the basis for collaboration. We can do so best by observing international law, respecting the UN Charter and preserving institutions. Differences must not become disputes, disputes should not become conflicts, and conflicts should not lead to a bigger breakdown. There are lessons from the last few years for all of us to reflect on,” Jaishankar said.
G20 members include the world’s major economies, representing 85% of global GDP, 75% of international trade, and two-thirds of the world’s population.
The members of the G20 are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkiye, the United Kingdom, the United States, the European Union and the African Union.
