India says relations with China 'not normal' due to border crisis

By Ahmad Adil and Riyaz ul Khaliq

NEW DELHI/ISTANBUL (AA) – Ties with China are not normal and cannot be as long as there is massive deployment of troops along border areas, India’s foreign minister said on Friday.

“As long as there are very large deployments in the border areas … the border area situation is not normal ... Disengagement is necessary for discussions on de-escalation to take place,” Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said at a news briefing in New Delhi after a three-hour meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.

Wang arrived in India on an unannounced visit a day earlier, the first by a senior Chinese official since border clashes in the northern Himalayan region that erupted in May 2020 severely strained relations between the two Asian powers.

“We have a situation where peace and tranquility in the border areas has been disturbed and … is not normal ... and it cannot be normal if the situation in the border areas is abnormal,” said Jaishankar.

“I would describe our current situation as a work in progress, obviously, at a slower pace than desirable,” he said, adding that discussions with Wang were “aimed at expediting that process.”

Several rounds of talks have brought about a halt in clashes along what is known as the Line of Actual Control, the de facto border between China and India in Ladakh.

However, historic outstanding issues have not been completely ironed out, leading to increased military deployment by both sides.

Wang came to India after trips to Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan, where he attended a meeting of foreign ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

His comments at the OIC event about the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region, which is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full, did not go down well with New Delhi.

In his speech at the OIC meeting earlier this week, Wang said he had “heard the call of many Islamic friends” about Kashmir, adding that Beijing “shares the same aspirations.”

Jaishankar told the Chinese foreign minister that India “found that statement objectionable” and hopes that Beijing “will follow an independent policy … and not allow its policies to be influenced by other countries and other relationships.”

Russia’s war on Ukraine also featured in the discussions between the top Indian and Chinese diplomats.

“Both of us agreed on the importance of an immediate cease-fire as well a return to diplomacy and dialogue,” Jaishankar said.

- ‘China, India do not pose threat to each other’

The Chinese foreign minister earlier met Ajit Doval, India’s influential national security adviser.

During the meeting, Wang put forward “three ideas” to correct the “direction of bilateral relations,” according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement.

He said China and India should proceed with the understanding that they “do not pose a threat to each other.”

The two sides should “take a long-term view and work together to promote peace and stability in the region and the world at large,” he added.

Wang also urged Beijing and New Delhi to focus on opportunities for mutual development and “view each other’s progress as a win-win.”

Proposing what he called “China-India+” cooperation in South Asia, Wang reiterated that Beijing “does not pursue the idea of the so-called ‘unipolar Asia’ and respects India’s traditional role in the region.”

China and India should “strengthen communication and coordination, support each other, increase positive signals for multilateralism, and inject more positive energy into improving global governance,” the statement quoted Wang as saying.​​​​​​​