India, China hold talks on UNSC agenda; first engagement after stand-off started

India and China on Tuesday held bilateral consultation on issues related to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) – the first such bilateral engagement after the relations between the two nations hit a new low over the military stand-off along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh.

Senior diplomats of India and China discussed a wide range of issues on the UNSC agenda during the virtual meeting.

China is one of the five permanent members of the Security Council, while India commenced its eighth two-year term as a non-permanent member of the most powerful organ of the UN on January 1.

The Indian delegation briefed the Chinese side on India’s priorities during its UNSC tenure. Both sides agreed to continue their engagement on key issues on the UNSC agenda, according to a press release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs.

The diplomats of India and China, as well as the military commanders of the two nations, have been holding virtual meetings to resolve the stand-off. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also had meetings with their counterparts in the Chinese Government. But all other engagements remained suspended ever since the stand-off started in late April and early May last year.

The virtual meeting between the diplomats of the two nations on the UNSC agenda was thus the India-China bilateral engagement on an issue not related to border stand-off.

China has been shielding terrorists based in Pakistan and responsible for attacks in India from UNSC sanctions. China also supported Pakistan’s bids to bring back the issue of Jammu and Kashmir on the agenda of the UNSC, ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in New Deli stripped the erstwhile state of its special status and reorganized it into two separate Union Territories in August 2019.

Prakash Gupta, Joint Secretary (UN Political) at the Ministry of External Affairs, led the delegation from India. China’s delegation was led by Yang Tao, Director General of the Department of International Organizations and Conferences at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the communist country’s government.