New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday conveyed to Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang that the state of the bilateral relationship was “abnormal” and beset by “real problems that need to be looked at”, especially the issue of peace and tranquility in the border areas.
Briefing the media on the 45-minute-long conversation held with his Chinese counterpart, which was their first meeting since the latter took office late last year, the EAM said the thrust of their conversation was on the bilateral relationship.
“I met the Foreign Minister of China Qin Gang this afternoon. It’s our first meeting since he took over; so we spent 45 minutes talking to each other.
“The bulk of our conversation was understandably on the current state of our bilateral relationship, which many have heard me describe as abnormal. And those were among the adjectives which I used at the meeting today; we have, you know, there are real problems that need to be looked at and discussed candidly between us; that’s what we sought to do today.
“We had a brief conversation on the G20 agenda too. But the thrust was really on our bilateral relations, and the challenges in the bilateral relationship, especially relating to peace and tranquility in the border areas.”
Earlier, in a tweet on the talks the EAM said the talks had focused on “addressing current challenges to the bilateral relationship, especially peace and tranquillity in the border areas”.
“Met Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang on sidelines of #G20FMM this afternoon.
“Our discussions were focused on addressing current challenges to the bilateral relationship, especially peace and tranquillity in the border areas.
“We also spoke about the G20 agenda.”
On Wednesday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson had said that Beijing values its relations with India.
Ahead of the visit of the Chinese Foreign Minister to India, spokesperson Mao Ning said: “China values its relations with India. China and India are ancient civilizations and both have more than one billion people. We are neighbors and are both emerging economies.
“A sound China-India relationship meets the fundamental interests of both countries and peoples,” she said.
