China India G-20: S Jaishankar’s meeting with who is close to Jinping, talks on these issues, will the tension on LAC be reduced?

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang on Thursday on the sidelines of the G-20 Foreign Ministers’ meeting in New Delhi. The minister tweeted that he met Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers meeting this afternoon. Our discussions focused on addressing current challenges to bilateral relations, especially peace and tranquility in the border areas. We also talked about the G20 agenda. Qin, a close aide of Chinese President Xi Jinping, is on his first visit to India after replacing Wang Yi as foreign minister.

The India-China meeting assumes immense significance in view of the ongoing military standoff between the two sides in the Ladakh sector of the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Relations between the two countries are at their most strained in the last 60 years since the brutal clash in the Galwan Valley on June 15, 2020. Ahead of his meeting with the Chinese foreign minister, Jaishankar met his American counterpart Antony Blinken during which the two discussed bilateral relations and global issues including the Ukraine conflict.

Jaishankar tweeted that it was a pleasure meeting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during the G20 Foreign Ministers’ meeting. An opportunity to review bilateral relations and discuss global issues. The Ukraine dispute and India’s agenda for the G20 are understood to have figured in the talks.