<p>External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday discussed India’s “abnormal” relations with China during a bilateral meeting with his new counterpart in the communist country’s government, Qin Gang, on the sideline of a G20 conclave in New Delhi.</p>.<p>Jaishankar had the meeting with Qin in New Delhi just a day before he would host the foreign ministers of Australia and Japan, Penny Wong and Yoshimasa Hayashi, as well as the United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, for a meeting of the Quad – a four-nation coalition forged to counter China’s hegemonic aspiration in the Indo-Pacific region.</p>.<p>“Our talks were about the current state of our relationship which many of you heard me describe as ‘abnormal’, those were among adjectives that I used in the meeting,” Jaishankar told journalists after his meeting with Qin.</p>.<p>Qin was China’s ambassador to the United States before succeeding Wang Yi as the Foreign Minister of China on December 30 last.</p>.<p>He was in New Delhi to attend the meeting of the G20 Foreign Minister.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/g20-foreign-ministers-meeting-could-not-agree-on-joint-communique-over-ukraine-divisions-eam-jaishankar-1196557.html" target="_blank">G20 foreign ministers' meeting could not agree on joint communique over Ukraine divisions: EAM Jaishankar</a></strong></p>.<p>“There are real problems that need to be discussed openly and candidly and that is what we did today,” Jaishankar told reporters after his meeting with Qin. “The thrust of our talks was on challenges in the bilateral relationship and the peace and tranquillity at the LAC (Line of Actual Control).”</p>.<p>Jaishankar’s meeting with Qin was his first with the new Chinese Foreign Minister. He had last met Qin’s predecessor Wang on the sideline of another G20 meeting at Bali in Indonesia in July 2022.</p>.<p>China in April-May 2020 deployed a large number of troops of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) along western sector of its LAC with India, in order to unilaterally change the status quo along the de facto boundary between the two nations. The Indian Army too had to deploy additional troops to resist the Chinese PLA’s move to push the LAC westward. This resulted in a military stand-off.</p>.<p>Though protracted negotiations led to mutual withdrawal of troops by both the Indian Army and the Chinese PLA from some of the face-off points along the LAC, the stand-off could not be resolved completely so far. Beijing has of late been claiming that the mutual withdrawal of troops by the Chinese PLA and the Indian Army from Patrolling Point 15 (Gogra-Hotsprings area) in September 2022 marked the restoration of normalcy along the LAC in eastern Ladakh. China’s claim appears to be an attempt to subtly build up pressure on India to accept the “new normal” in Depsang and Demchok areas where the Chinese PLA continues to block the Indian Army’s access to several patrolling points along the LAC.</p>
<p>External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday discussed India’s “abnormal” relations with China during a bilateral meeting with his new counterpart in the communist country’s government, Qin Gang, on the sideline of a G20 conclave in New Delhi.</p>.<p>Jaishankar had the meeting with Qin in New Delhi just a day before he would host the foreign ministers of Australia and Japan, Penny Wong and Yoshimasa Hayashi, as well as the United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, for a meeting of the Quad – a four-nation coalition forged to counter China’s hegemonic aspiration in the Indo-Pacific region.</p>.<p>“Our talks were about the current state of our relationship which many of you heard me describe as ‘abnormal’, those were among adjectives that I used in the meeting,” Jaishankar told journalists after his meeting with Qin.</p>.<p>Qin was China’s ambassador to the United States before succeeding Wang Yi as the Foreign Minister of China on December 30 last.</p>.<p>He was in New Delhi to attend the meeting of the G20 Foreign Minister.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/g20-foreign-ministers-meeting-could-not-agree-on-joint-communique-over-ukraine-divisions-eam-jaishankar-1196557.html" target="_blank">G20 foreign ministers' meeting could not agree on joint communique over Ukraine divisions: EAM Jaishankar</a></strong></p>.<p>“There are real problems that need to be discussed openly and candidly and that is what we did today,” Jaishankar told reporters after his meeting with Qin. “The thrust of our talks was on challenges in the bilateral relationship and the peace and tranquillity at the LAC (Line of Actual Control).”</p>.<p>Jaishankar’s meeting with Qin was his first with the new Chinese Foreign Minister. He had last met Qin’s predecessor Wang on the sideline of another G20 meeting at Bali in Indonesia in July 2022.</p>.<p>China in April-May 2020 deployed a large number of troops of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) along western sector of its LAC with India, in order to unilaterally change the status quo along the de facto boundary between the two nations. The Indian Army too had to deploy additional troops to resist the Chinese PLA’s move to push the LAC westward. This resulted in a military stand-off.</p>.<p>Though protracted negotiations led to mutual withdrawal of troops by both the Indian Army and the Chinese PLA from some of the face-off points along the LAC, the stand-off could not be resolved completely so far. Beijing has of late been claiming that the mutual withdrawal of troops by the Chinese PLA and the Indian Army from Patrolling Point 15 (Gogra-Hotsprings area) in September 2022 marked the restoration of normalcy along the LAC in eastern Ladakh. China’s claim appears to be an attempt to subtly build up pressure on India to accept the “new normal” in Depsang and Demchok areas where the Chinese PLA continues to block the Indian Army’s access to several patrolling points along the LAC.</p>
