AMN /Moscow/New Delhi
India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Thursday met in Moscow amid hopes of a possible success in reducing tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. They met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit.
The meeting, that lasted around 5 hours, came in the backdrop of the crucial dialogue between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Chinese counterpart at the same forum earlier this week.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held talks with his Chinese counterpart General Wei Fenghe on the margins of another SCO meet in Moscow last Friday but apparently the meeting did not yield any tangible outcome.
The talks between the two Foreign Ministers took place in the backdrop of a heighten border tensions in eastern Ladakh triggered by fresh face-offs between Indian and Chinese troops along the LAC .
Prior to the one-on-one meeting between Jaishankar and Yi, the foreign ministers of Russia, India and China (RIC) exchanged views on strengthening trilateral cooperation.
“Attended the RIC Foreign Ministers Meeting hosted by FM (Sergey) Lavrov in Moscow. Thank him for his warm hospitality. India takes on the Chair of the RIC process,” Jaishankar tweeted after the talks between him, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Yi.
As per the joint press release issued after the meeting, “the three ministers exchanged views on further strengthening of Russia-India-China trilateral cooperation as well as topical issues of international and regional importance, in the spirit of mutual understanding, friendship and trust”.
Despite hough high-level diplomatic and military engagements between the neighbours are being held, the relentless Chinese army continues to provoke the Indian forces near eastern Ladakh while trying to transgress into Indian territory.
In the latest flare-up along the border, Chinese troops fired shots in the air while trying to approach Indian outposts along the LAC on the southern bank of the Pangong Tso lake, a first along the LAC after a gap of 45 years.
The Indian Army on Tuesday said that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army has been “blatantly violating agreements and carrying out aggressive manoeuvres”.
India recently gave China a taste of its own medicine by taking control of a strategic height near Pangong’s southern bank, thwarting an attempt by the Chinese PLA to transgress into Indian territory near Chushul in Ladakh.
“I met Chushul village representatives yesterday. We spoke about the moral responsibility to assist the Indian Army as citizens of the country. The local civilians will wholeheartedly support the Army in their capacity,” Ladakh Member of Parliament JT Namgyal said.