- Jaishankar, Wang hold talks in Delhi amid border tensions.
- Jaishankar says peace on border key to better ties.
- Wang to meet PM Modi, hold border talks with Doval.
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar began talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in New Delhi on Monday and stressed that there could be positive momentum in ties between the neighbours only if there was peace on their border.
Wang arrived in the Indian capital on Monday for a two-day visit during which he will hold the 24th round of border talks with Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and also meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“This (discussing border issues) is very important because the basis for any positive momentum in our ties is the ability to jointly maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas,” Jaishankar told Wang in his opening remarks.
It is also important for the two countries to pull back their troops amassed along their disputed border in the western Himalayas since a deadly border clash in 2020, Jaishankar said.
Wang’s visit comes days before Modi travels to China – his first visit in seven years – to attend the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a regional political and security group which also includes Russia.
Relations between the Asian giants began to thaw in October after New Delhi and Beijing reached a milestone pact to lower military tensions on their Himalayan border following talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Modi in Russia.
Ties between the two countries had deteriorated sharply following a military clash on their disputed Himalayan border in the summer of 2020 in which 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese soldiers were killed.
Modi calls ‘friend’ Putin
Warming ties between China and India come as relations between New Delhi and Washington are strained.
Trump has issued an ultimatum for India to end its purchases of Russian oil — a key revenue source for Moscow’s war in Ukraine — or Washington will double new import tariffs from 25% to 50%.
Modi said Monday he spoke to “my friend” Vladimir Putin, with the Russian president “sharing insights” on his Alaska summit with Trump last week.
“India has consistently called for a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine conflict and supports all efforts in this regard,” the Indian premier wrote on social media.
Indian hopes that the Alaska meeting would ease US tariff pressure were tempered earlier Monday by US trade adviser Peter Navarro.
“If India wants to be treated as a strategic partner of the US, it needs to start acting like one,” he wrote in a sharply-worded column in the Financial Times.
“India acts as a global clearinghouse for Russian oil, converting embargoed crude into high-value exports while giving Moscow the dollars it needs,” he wrote.
“The proceeds flow to India’s politically connected energy titans, and in turn, into Vladimir Putin’s war chest,” he added, in an apparent swipe at India’s big refiners, which include tycoon Mukesh Ambani.
Navarro said the 50% tariff — due to begin on August 27 — will “hit India where it hurts”.
