Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Yi reached Delhi on the evening of 24 March. On 25 March, he spoke to Indian Security Advisor Ajit Doval. After this, he spoke to External Affairs Minister Subramaniam Jaishankar for about three hours. A report in the Indian Express suggests that Wang Yi wanted to meet PM Narendra Modi but South Block politely declined.
What did India say to the Chinese side?
The Indian Express has told the question of sources that India had told the Chinese side that PM Modi would be busy on March 25 as he was to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh. Wang, who was on an unannounced visit, arrived in New Delhi after more than two years.
Why was Wang Yi’s tour not announced?
When India’s Foreign Minister Subramaniam Jaishankar was asked this question, he said that due to many reasons China did not want prior announcement of this visit. And since there was no bilateral agreement, we also did not announce this visit from our side.
External Affairs Minister Jaishankar has clearly said that relations between India and China are not normal as a large number of troops are deployed on the border contrary to the agreements. He has said that peace along the border is essential for stable relations.
‘Soldiers must be completely removed from conflict sites’
Jaishankar said that as long as such a large number of soldiers are deployed, the situation on the border is not normal. There are still issues of conflict between the two countries. Progress has been made towards resolving some issues, including the issue of the Pegong Lake area. So far 15 rounds of talks have taken place to resolve the issues and today it was discussed how to take the talks forward.
He said that work is being done to resolve the issues but it is very slow. This needs to be intensified as the reduction of tension on the Line of Actual Control requires complete removal of troops from the disputed sites. He has told that no time frame has been fixed for the resolution of the situation in the border area.