External affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, who is on his first China trip in five years, met Chinese Vice President Han Zheng on Monday, and expressed confidence that the two neighbours would maintain the positive trajectory of the recent improvement in their bilateral ties.“Pleased to meet Vice President Han Zheng soon after my arrival in Beijing today. Conveyed India’s support for China’s SCO Presidency. Noted the improvement in our bilateral ties. And expressed confidence that discussions during my visit will maintain that positive trajectory,” Jaishankar posted on X.
Jaishankar X post
During their bilateral talks, the ex-foreign secretary told the Chinese vice president that New Delhi backs Beijing’s successful presidency of the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation).“India supports a successful Chinese presidency at the SCO. Our bilateral relationship, as you have pointed, has been steadily improving since the meeting between Prime Minister Modi and President Xi Jinping in (Russia’s) Kazan last October,” Jaishankar said.“The resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra is also widely appreciated in India. Continued normalisation of our ties can produce mutually beneficial outcomes. The international situation, as we meet today, is very complex. As neighbouring nations and major economies, an open exchange of views and perspectives between India and China is very important,” he added.Jaishankar’s China visit, his first here since the deadly Galwan Valley military clash of June 2020, follows visits by defence minister Rajnath Singh and National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, who had travelled to China in June for meetings of the defence ministers of SCO member states.Also Read | SCO Summit: Rajnath Singh refuses to sign joint document; Pakistan, China go soft on terror threatWhat’s on Jaishankar’s agenda?The external affairs minister is expected to meet his counterpart, Wang Yi, for a bilateral meeting on Monday. The former arrived in China from Singapore, for the second and final leg of his 2-nation tour.The two top diplomats previously met in February on the sidelines of a G20 meeting in South Africa’s Johannesburg, where both sides echoed calls for mutual trust and support.The SCO foreign ministers meeting will be held in Tianjin on Tuesday.Wang Yi is also expected to visit India next month to meet NSA Ajit Doval – part of a planned round of dialogue under the Special Representatives (SR) mechanism aimed at resolving the decades-old boundary dispute.
