Cannot view ties via 3rd country lens: India, China

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has told his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi that the two sides should work for an early resolution of the remaining issues along the LAC in eastern Ladakh to restore peace and tranquillity in the border areas as this has been an essential basis for progress in Sino-India ties.

As Jaishankar conveyed his views at a meeting with Wang on the sidelines of the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Tajikistan capital Dushanbe on Thursday, a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement on Friday said Minister Wang hoped India will meet China halfway to move the border situation towards stability and shift it from “urgent dispute settlement to regular management and control.”

Jaishankar also asserted it is essential that China avoid viewing its ties with India through the “lens of a third country” to which Beijing said it “agrees”. Observing that Sino-India relations have their own “intrinsic logic”, China said the ties do not target any “third party and are not based on any third party.”

Jaishankar also told Wang that India had never subscribed to any “clash of civilisations theory” and that Asian solidarity would depend on the example set by India-China relations, it added.

He also said the two sides need to establish a relationship based on “mutual respect” for which it was necessary that China avoid viewing the ties with India from the perspective of its relations with third countries, the statement said.