New Delhi sees progress in negotiations with Beijing, despite concerns about border militarization and trade imbalances
There has been “some progress” on India’s border dispute with China, with around 75% of the “disengagement issues” having been resolved, Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said on Thursday.
The two countries have been in border talks since 2020, when their troops clashed along the ill-defined Himalayan frontier, leading to casualties on both sides. “We still have some things to do,” the Indian diplomat noted.
Speaking at a think-tank in Geneva, Switzerland, Jaishankar stressed however that the 2020 Galwan Valley incident, which was a violation of agreements reached between the two Asian powers, had affected bilateral ties.
“One cannot have violence at the border and then say the rest of the relationship is insulated from it,” he noted. He also emphasized the issue of militarization of the border, where both countries are actively building up infrastructure.
The 3,379km frontier between the world’s two most populous countries has long been a source of friction. India-China ties nosedived after the 2020 skirmish near a disputed stretch of border in the Galwan Valley. The two nations held more than 30 rounds of talks on disengagement in nearly four years, with the latest taking place on August 29. According to New Delhi’s readout, the two sides “had a frank, constructive and forward-looking exchange of views” on the border issues and agreed on “intensified contact” through diplomatic and military channels.
According to Jaishankar, the two sides are negotiating for troops to “go back to their normal operating bases” and for an arrangement about patrolling in certain areas along the border that is not legally defined.
“We hope that if there is a solution to the disengagement and there is a return to peace and tranquility, then we can look at other possibilities,” Jaishankar said on Thursday, referring to potential improvements in the overall bilateral relationship with Beijing that he termed “very complex.”
Regarding trade ties, the minister said that the economic relationship with China has been “very unfair” and “unbalanced,” claiming that Chinese companies had “much better market access” in India than the reverse. “We have many concerns today in various areas, like technology, telecom, digital [space].”
Following the 2020 border incident, India increased its scrutiny of investments from Chinese companies, imposed bans on certain digital firms, and halted major projects, including in infrastructure. Nevertheless, in recent years there have been calls to permit greater Chinese investment in India’s expanding economy.
