"India-China Border Tensions: Jaishankar Pushes for De-escalation and Trade Normalization in Beijing Talks"

 

India and China need to make more progress in reducing tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar told his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, during his visit to Beijing on Monday. While both countries managed to achieve troop disengagement nine months ago, Jaishankar pointed out that this has yet to be followed by actual troop withdrawals — a key step toward easing the military standoff.

This trip marks Jaishankar’s first visit to China since 2019 and since the deadly Galwan Valley clashes in 2020. Along with Wang Yi, he also met with Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng to discuss both positive developments and ongoing concerns in India-China relations.

During the talks, Jaishankar emphasized the importance of restoring normalcy in people-to-people ties and urged China to ease trade restrictions, especially those affecting critical mineral exports. He also underscored the need for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to adopt a firm stance on terrorism, pushing for a “zero tolerance” policy.

Reflecting on recent progress, Jaishankar said that the return of relative calm at the border has helped improve the relationship. However, he made it clear that more needs to be done — especially on the issue of de-escalation and the removal of troops deployed along the LAC since the 2020 crisis.

In his meeting with Han, Jaishankar noted that fully normalizing ties between India and China could lead to positive outcomes for both nations. This was a noteworthy comment, as he has previously stated that true normalization isn't possible until the border situation is resolved.

Back in December 2024, Jaishankar had told Parliament that while disengagement had been achieved, the next step would be to work on de-escalation — which means pulling back the thousands of troops still stationed along the LAC.

Though troop withdrawal hasn’t yet happened, both sides have taken steps to restore broader cooperation. High-level visits have resumed, including trips to China by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. India and China have also agreed to restart direct flights, and New Delhi is hopeful that Beijing will soon resume sharing water data on rivers that flow across their borders.