Jaishankar meets Chinese FM, stresses need to respect LAC

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, on the sidelines of the ASEAN meetings on Thursday, and reiterated the need to ensure “full respect” for the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and past agreements.

Jaishankar asserted that the stabilisation of ties is in mediate issues with a sense of purpose and urgency,” he added.

Notably, in 2020, the Indian and Chinese troops clashed at Galwan, the same year the pandemic started.

Since May 2020, when the Chinese troops tried to aggressively change the status quo on LAC in eastern Ladakh, both sides have been deployed in forward positions near Patrolling Point 15, which emerged as a friction point in the wake of the Galwan clash.

Over 50,000 Indian soldiers have been stationed since 2020 at forward posts along the LAC, with advanced weapons to prevent any attempts to change the status quo unilaterally on the LAC.

During the meeting, Jaishankar also stressed the importance of the three mutuals --- mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity --- to India-China ties, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a press release.

“The meeting gave the two Ministers an opportunity to review the situation since their last meeting at Astana on 4 July 2024. Their talks focussed on finding an early resolution of the remaining issues along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) to stabilize and rebuild bilateral relations,” the release stated.