China-India border dispute ‘not in either side’s interest’, foreign ministers agree

In talks in Astana, Wang Yi and Subrahmanyam Jaishankar say the issues between the two Asian giants should be resolved as soon as possible

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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar meet in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Thursday in yet another round of talks about the China-India Himalayan border row. Photo: Twitter/@DrSJaishankar

Published: 10:00pm, 4 Jul 2024Updated: 11:49pm, 4 Jul 2024

China and India should double their efforts to resolve their differences and resume normal ties, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar agreed on Thursday.

The two ministers reached the consensus during a meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, four years after a border dispute erupted in a deadly clash in the Galwan Valley.

The foreign ministers agreed that “prolongation of the current situation in the border areas is not in either side’s interest”, and meetings between diplomatic and military officials should be improved to “resolve the remaining issues at the earliest”, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said.

Wang said China and India were both part of the Global South and emerging economies, and should “explore a correct way to get along with each other”, according to the Chinese foreign ministry statement on the talks.

“We must appropriately address and control the situation in the border areas, and actively resume normal exchanges,” Wang said.

He added that the two sides should “join hands to oppose unilateral bullying and bloc confrontation and safeguard the common interests of developing countries”. The comment was an apparent veiled reference to the US’ geopolitical containment of China under its Indo-Pacific strategy, in which New Delhi plays an important role.