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Defence Minister Singh calls for measures to safeguard peace and tranquility along India-China border
Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh met Chinese Defence Minister Admiral Dong Jun in Vientiane, Lao PDR on November 20, 2024. This was the first meeting of the two Defence Ministers after India and China announced a disengagement agreement along the border in October.
The meeting, held on the sidelines of the 11th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus, came two days after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met his Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in Rio de Janeiro.
Both these meetings have tried to take forward the discussions between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia.
“Had an extremely productive meeting with the Chinese Defence Minister Admiral Dong Jun in Vientiane. We agreed to work together towards a roadmap for rebuilding mutual trust and understanding,” Defence Minister Singh said on social media platform X.
According to the Ministry of Defence (MoD), Singh highlighted the fact that amicable relations between India and China, the two largest nations in the world, would have positive implications for global peace and prosperity. Considering that both countries are and will continue to remain neighbours, he emphasised the “need to focus on cooperation rather that conflict,” the ministry added.
During the meeting, Defence Minister Singh called for reflecting on the lessons learnt from the unfortunate border clashes of 2020, taking measures to prevent recurrence of such events and safeguarding peace and tranquility along the India-China border. “He emphasised and looked forward to greater trust and confidence building between the two sides through de-escalation. Both sides agreed to work together towards a roadmap for rebuilding mutual trust and understanding,” the MoD stated.
On November 18, 2024, meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, EAM S Jaishankar and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi discussed the next steps in the bilateral ties while noting the progress of disengagement in the India-China border areas.
Among the “next steps” discussed by the two sides during the meeting was the resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra as well as direct flights between India and China. Data sharing on trans-border rivers and media exchanges also figured in the talks, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) later said.
Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri announced a major breakthrough on October 22, 2024, following several weeks of intense negotiations between Indian and Chinese officials. He said both sides had reached an agreement a day earlier on patrolling arrangements on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on the India-China border, leading to disengagement.
On November 2, 2024, the MEA confirmed that “verification patrolling” had commenced in the Demchok and Depsang areas of Eastern Ladakh's border areas as part of the disengagement agreement.
Meeting on the margins of the 16th BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia on October 23, 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping agreed that the Special Representatives on the India-China boundary question would meet at an early date to oversee the management of peace & tranquility in border areas and to explore a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to the boundary question.
The relevant dialogue mechanisms at the level of Foreign Ministers and other officials would also be utilised to stabilize and rebuild bilateral relations, they decided.
In June 2020, a tense standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in Eastern Ladakh had led to a violent face-off in the Galwan Valley. Twenty Indian soldiers had lost their lives. A large number of Chinese troops were also killed though China has never officially confirmed the actual number of deaths.
Multiple rounds of talks at the military and diplomatic levels gradually led to a disengagement at several locations but the subsequent meetings did not see announcements of fresh disengagement along the last remaining friction points along LAC in the Western Sector in the Eastern Ladakh region until October this year.
The meeting, held on the sidelines of the 11th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus, came two days after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met his Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in Rio de Janeiro.
Both these meetings have tried to take forward the discussions between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia.
“Had an extremely productive meeting with the Chinese Defence Minister Admiral Dong Jun in Vientiane. We agreed to work together towards a roadmap for rebuilding mutual trust and understanding,” Defence Minister Singh said on social media platform X.
According to the Ministry of Defence (MoD), Singh highlighted the fact that amicable relations between India and China, the two largest nations in the world, would have positive implications for global peace and prosperity. Considering that both countries are and will continue to remain neighbours, he emphasised the “need to focus on cooperation rather that conflict,” the ministry added.
During the meeting, Defence Minister Singh called for reflecting on the lessons learnt from the unfortunate border clashes of 2020, taking measures to prevent recurrence of such events and safeguarding peace and tranquility along the India-China border. “He emphasised and looked forward to greater trust and confidence building between the two sides through de-escalation. Both sides agreed to work together towards a roadmap for rebuilding mutual trust and understanding,” the MoD stated.
On November 18, 2024, meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, EAM S Jaishankar and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi discussed the next steps in the bilateral ties while noting the progress of disengagement in the India-China border areas.
Among the “next steps” discussed by the two sides during the meeting was the resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra as well as direct flights between India and China. Data sharing on trans-border rivers and media exchanges also figured in the talks, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) later said.
Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri announced a major breakthrough on October 22, 2024, following several weeks of intense negotiations between Indian and Chinese officials. He said both sides had reached an agreement a day earlier on patrolling arrangements on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on the India-China border, leading to disengagement.
On November 2, 2024, the MEA confirmed that “verification patrolling” had commenced in the Demchok and Depsang areas of Eastern Ladakh's border areas as part of the disengagement agreement.
Meeting on the margins of the 16th BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia on October 23, 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping agreed that the Special Representatives on the India-China boundary question would meet at an early date to oversee the management of peace & tranquility in border areas and to explore a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to the boundary question.
The relevant dialogue mechanisms at the level of Foreign Ministers and other officials would also be utilised to stabilize and rebuild bilateral relations, they decided.
In June 2020, a tense standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in Eastern Ladakh had led to a violent face-off in the Galwan Valley. Twenty Indian soldiers had lost their lives. A large number of Chinese troops were also killed though China has never officially confirmed the actual number of deaths.
Multiple rounds of talks at the military and diplomatic levels gradually led to a disengagement at several locations but the subsequent meetings did not see announcements of fresh disengagement along the last remaining friction points along LAC in the Western Sector in the Eastern Ladakh region until October this year.
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