Jaishankar rejects Wang’s call for normalcy in India-China ties, insists on resolving LAC stand-off first

Submission Statement:

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met on the sideline of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s summit in Astana on Thursday and agreed that the bilateral Working Mechanism on Consultation and Coordination WMCC) on border affairs should hold another meeting soon.

Though protracted negotiations led to the mutual withdrawal of troops by both the Indian Army and the Chinese PLA from some of the face-off points along the LAC, like Galwan Valley, the northern and southern banks of Pangong Tso, Gogra Post, and Hot Springs, the stand-off could not be resolved completely so far.

Beijing, however, has 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 the Depsang and Demchok areas.

Wang reiterated it during his meeting with Jaishankar on Thursday.

New Delhi, however, insisted on resolving the stand-off along the LAC in eastern Ladakh first to set the stage for restoring normalcy in its relations with Beijing.

Beijing, unlike New Delhi, refrained from specifically referring to the stand-off along the LAC in eastern Ladakh in its press release on the meeting between the two foreign ministers.