Sandeep Dikshit
Benaulim (Goa), May 4
A breakthrough on the border issue proved elusive during bilateral talks between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang on Thursday, a day ahead of the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Foreign Ministers to prepare for the July summit that will see Russian and Chinese Presidents visiting India.
The focus remained on resolving outstanding issues and ensuring peace and tranquillity in the border areas, said Jaishankar in a tweet. Last week, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had told his Chinese counterpart Li Shangfu that Beijing’s violation of existing border agreements “eroded” the entire basis of ties between the two countries and urged that this issue must be resolved by adhering to the existing pacts.
Jaishankar also met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and they discussed outstanding bilateral issues in the wake of the West’s sanctions against Moscow as also “the schedule of upcoming contacts”, which meant Putin’s visit for the SCO summit in Delhi.
The minister also met his counterpart from Uzbekistan, which has formed a trilateral with India and Iran to effectively utilise the shorter sea-ward transportation route offered by the Chabahar port.
Though Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also arrived here this afternoon directly from Islamabad after India offered a direct flight path to Goa, there was no word of a meeting with Jaishankar. Bilawal, however, held bilaterals with other countries, including Russia.
In his second meeting in three months with the recently appointed Chinese Foreign Minister, Jaishankar said besides the border issue, the two also deliberated on issues relating to the SCO, G20 and BRICS, which will hold its summit in South Africa where Putin faces the possibility of arrest as Johannesburg has ratified the covenant of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has issued a pre-trial warrant against him.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said during talks with India, the two sides agreed to continue following “the course of building a fair multipolar system of interstate relations” and that the ministers appreciated the dynamics of their cooperation in key areas. This is Lavrov’s second visit to India this year. Like the Chinese Foreign Minister, he had also attended the G20 Foreign Ministers’ meeting in New Delhi in March.
Jaishankar shared a light moment when he asked whether Sergey Lavrov had an opportunity to get some rest and a suntan. Lavrov, who arrived early in the morning, said that he had about an hour and a half to do so but asked Jaishankar not to tell anybody about it.
The Foreign Ministers of the eight-member SCO will consider its expansion after a gap of six years when India and Pakistan were included as full members. This could mean approving Iran as the ninth full member and making five countries Dialogue Partners. These countries are Bahrain, Kuwait, Myanmar, the Maldives and the UAE.
Focus on peace
A discussion with State Councillor and FM Qin Gang of China. Focus on resolving outstanding issues and ensuring peace and tranquillity in the border areas. — S Jaishankar, EAM