Indian External Affairs Minister (EAM) Dr S Jaishankar said on Monday that border talks between India and China have not been “halted.”
During an interaction with media persons, Jaishankar further remarked that the Modi government has significantly improved border infrastructure in the last nine years.
Overview
The EAM said that talks between the two countries “have made progress on key tension points in the last three years.”
Additionally, he mentioned that India and China will hold another meeting soon on the border talks.
“Post 2014 when there is a big push on border infrastructure, contestation and patrolling has increased from the Chinese side,” Jaishankar remarked.
He highlighted that border infrastructure has been enhanced along the Northern frontier over the last nine years, underscoring that India has recently signed deals with France and the US to augment its defence infrastructure. To this end, New Delhi is set to acquire 97 drones for patrolling along its northern borders.
The #Modi government has significantly enhanced border infrastructure in the last nine years, including along the frontier with #China, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said on Monday, August 7, 2023.https://t.co/5O10d6kXLJ
— The Hindu (@the_hindu) August 7, 2023
During the interaction, the EAM mentioned that the infrastructure push along the northern border will determine India’s response to national security challenges and said that the big effort with China is to improve Indian border infrastructure.
He highlighted that as a part of this, India is boosting its connectivity with Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan.
Jaishankar also emphasised that India is in talks with Bhutan over the first-ever railway connection between India and Bhutan, which is expected to be completed by 2026.
He said, “Bhutan is very keen to open more points for tourists, and it is very good for Assam.”
Bhutan-China Talks
Meanwhile, on the talks between Bhutan and China, Jaishankar said, “They are having negotiations, and 24 rounds have been completed. They will be holding more rounds. We track carefully what affects us. It is for them to determine the pace.”
China and Bhutan held the 12th Expert Group Meeting on boundary issues in May, where they agreed to hold the 25th round of talks as soon as possible.
The talks have raised security concerns for India as they cover the trijunction near Doklam, which lies close to the Siliguri Corridor connecting India’s North East to the rest of the country.
STORY | Efforts on to resolve it: EAM Jaishankar on eastern Ladakh row
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 7, 2023
READ: https://t.co/rVqXvc6h3P pic.twitter.com/IFpAjNnEqy
Kailash Mansarovar Yatra
Speaking on Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, Jaishankar said, “Kailash Mansarovar - Infrastructure is building up, there is a need for a tunnel there, Border Road Organisation (BRO) is working and planning it. But, there is no signal from China on coming back to the old process.”
The Yatra, done through three different highways — Lipulekh Pass (Uttarakhand), Nathu Pass (Sikkim) and Kathmandu — was closed for three years. This year, China has added new rules and hiked the fees, making the process more difficult.
India-China Talks
The Chinese Foreign Ministry recently claimed that at the Bali G20 summit in November 2022, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian PM Narendra Modi reached “an important consensus in stabilising China-India relations in Bali.”
The Indian side responded by acknowledging that the two leaders spoke of the need to stabilise relations between the two countries.
India and China have been engaging in talks over disengagement along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh, where they are locked in a confrontation since skirmishes took place in Galwan in May 2020.
While relations between the two countries are at a historic low, the two nations held in-person diplomatic talks in June, wherein they agreed to hold the 19th round of high-level military talks soon.
Modi and Xi are also expected to meet at the upcoming BRICS and G20 summits in August and September, respectively.