India - China: Modi, Xi Emphasised Need to Stabilise Relations in Bali last November
STORIES, ANALYSES, EXPERT VIEWS
India Thursday disclosed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping had spoken about the need to stabilise bilateral relations during their brief meeting at the G20 summit in Bali last November.
Till now, India had maintained that only courtesies were exchanged during the handshake.
The disclosure was made by external affairs ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi at the weekly briefing when asked for a response to the Chinese foreign ministry claim that “at the end of last year, President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Modi reached an important consensus on stabilising China-India relations in Bali”.
Chinese statement: The Chinese statement further said: “The two sides should adhere to the strategic judgment of the leaders of the two countries that ‘they do not pose a threat to each other, and they are each other’s development opportunities’, truly implement the consensus on stabilising bilateral relations into specific policies, and translate them into concerted actions by various departments and fields, enhance strategic mutual trust, focus on consensus and cooperation, overcome interference and difficulties, and promote the return of bilateral relations to the track of healthy and stable development at an early date.”
Indian statement: Asked for a response to the statement, Bagchi said: “Prime Minister Modi and President Xi at the conclusion of the dinner hosted by the Indonesian President exchanged courtesies and also spoke of the need to stabilise our bilateral relations. We have steadfastly maintained that the key to the resolution of this whole issue is to resolve the situation along the LAC on the western sector of the India-China boundary and restore peace and tranquillity in the border areas.”
Anita Joshua (journalist with The Telegraph) notes the disclosure from both capitals comes ahead of two meetings where Modi and Xi are expected to be present — the Brics summit in South Africa and the G20 leaders’ meeting in New Delhi. Between 2020 summer and now, the two have been in the same room at multilateral fora but Bali was the only one where they have engaged publicly.
Doval tells Wang Yi that ‘strategic trust’ eroded
Earlier last week, in one of his sharpest statements in three years on the border standoff, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval told Wang Yi, director of the Office of the foreign affairs commission of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, that the situation along the LAC since 2020 had “eroded strategic trust and the public and political basis of the relationship”.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Friends of BRICS meeting in South Africa.
“During the meeting, NSA conveyed that the situation along the LAC in the Western Sector of the India-China boundary since 2020 had eroded strategic trust and the public and political basis of the relationship,” the MEA said in a statement.
“NSA emphasised the importance of continuing efforts to fully resolve the situation and restore peace and tranquility in the border areas, so as to remove impediments to normalcy in bilateral relations. The two sides agreed that the India-China bilateral relationship is significant not only for the two countries but also for the region and world,” it added.
On ground, heightened PLA activity along LAC
On ground, Rajat Pandit (Senior Editor · The Times of India)
writes “the ongoing summer is witnessing heightened military activity by China along the Line of Actual Control stretching from eastern Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh, even as Army chief General Manoj Pande on Thursday reviewed the operational situation by visiting the 14 Corps headquarters at Leh.”
Sources say the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has ‘shown no inclination yet’ to resolve the military confrontation in eastern Ladakh, which is into its fourth summer now, while relentlessly consolidating its military positions in terms of bunkers, posts, artillery positions, surface-to-air missile systems, radar sites and ammunition storages.
Infrastructure development: ‘The PLA also continues massive infrastructure development in terms of new helipads, roads, bridges, dual-use Xiaokang border villages and last-mile connectivity, which has further picked up speed in the last couple of months to support its forward positions,’ a source said.
China has also massively upgraded all its air bases facing India like Hotan, Kashgar, Gargunsa, Shigatse, Hoping, Lingzhi and Lhasa-Gonggar with new and extended runways, hardened shelters and fuel storage facilities for additional fighters, bombers, AWACS, drones and reconnaissance aircraft. ‘Moreover, seven to eight new airfields and heliports are now also coming up,’ said another source.
The stepped-up PLA activity on the ground, writes Pandit “is underway along all the three sectors of the 3,488-km LAC -- western (Ladakh), middle (Uttarakhand, Himachal) and eastern (Sikkim, Arunachal). At Pangong Tso, for instance, the PLA has increased the number of troop shelters, weapon systems, jetties, and assault boats near the ‘no patrol buffer zone' created after the troop disengagement at Pangong Tso in February 2021.”
‘There is massive infrastructure development in the stretch between `Finger-8’ and Chinese military bases to the east at Sirijap-I and II on the north bank. The PLA will also soon complete the main bridge in the Khurnak area, after building the secondary one last year, for faster troop mobility between the north and south banks,’ another source said.
Similarly, PLA activities have also gone up in terms of vehicles, patrols and infrastructure development and construction of the dual-use villages opposite Barahoti in Uttarakhand and in the vicinity of the Lipulekh Pass in the middle sector.
In the east, hectic PLA construction activity is currently underway with area clearance and earth-moving equipment in several areas opposite Siang, Kameng and other parts of Arunachal Pradesh. ‘The PLA is there to stay with its forward deployment along the entire LAC,' the source said.
Adjournment motion in Lok Sabha to discuss border situation with China
Meanwhile, Congress MP Manish Tewari Thursday gave an adjournment motion notice in the Lok Sabha to discuss the border situation with China.
In his letter to the Secretary-General, Lok Sabha, Manish Tiwari said, ‘I hereby give notice of my intention to ask for leave to move a motion for the adjournment of the business of the house for the purpose of discussing a definite matter of urgent importance, namely: That this House do suspend Zero Hour and relevant rules relating to Question Hour and other businesses of the day to have a discussion on the border situation with China.’ Manish Tewari further urged the Central Government to inform the Lok Sabha about the situation at the border with China and the attempts it had made to resolve the ongoing matter between the two countries.
‘The border situation with China has been extremely tense since clashes broke out with Chinese forces in Eastern Arunachal Pradesh. Despite multiple rounds of talks between India and China, the border dispute continues to persist. Moreover, there have been reports coming out from Chushul, Eastern Ladakh, that the People Liberation Army (PLA) has pitched four tents in a ‘buffer zone', and has demanded a 15-20 km Buffer Zone inside Indian territory,’ the letter stated.
‘Thus, in light of the aforementioned, I, therefore urge the Government to inform the House of the situation at the border with China, the attempts made by the Government to mediate and settle the border dispute, and the policies introduced by the Government to preserve and protect India’s integrity against possible Chinese aggressions,' it added.
