Johannesburg/New Delhi, Feb 21 (UNI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Johannesburg, during which the two sides reviewed the developments in the bilateral relationship, especially the management of peace and tranquility in the border areas, trans-border rivers and travel facilitation.
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, briefing the media on the meeting that took place in Johannesburg on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, said it lasted half an hour.
“The meeting lasted for 30 minutes. The two ministers reviewed developments in the bilateral relationship since their last meeting in November, specifically the management of peace and tranquility in border areas, the Kailash-Mansarovar yatra resumption, trans-border rivers, flight connectivity and travel facilitation were discussed. There was also exchange of views on G20, and SCO,” he said.
EAM Jaishankar in a post on X said:
“The G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting in Johannesburg provided an opportunity to meet CPC Politburo member and FM Wang Yi of China this morning on its sidelines.”
In his opening remarks during the meeting, the EAM observed that there have been "notable developments" in the bilateral ties, during the talks held at the NSA and Foreign Secretary level between both sides.
The EAM noted that meetings like the current one “have provided an opportunity for our interaction even when our ties were going through a difficult phase”.
“We should also recognize that in a polarized global situation, our two countries have worked hard to preserve and protect the G20 as an institution.
“This in itself testifies to the importance of international cooperation.
“Since our last meeting in Rio during the G20 Summit in November 2024, there have been some notable developments. Our NSA and Foreign Secretary have visited China and there have been discussions about various aspects of our relationship.
“These have included management of peace and tranquility in the border areas as well as other dimensions of our ties.
“I am glad today to have a further exchange of views.
“India and China are members of the G20, SCO and BRICS. There are also regional and global issues of mutual interest, where an exchange of perspectives will be to our mutual benefit.”
In November 2024, EAM Jaishankar had met Wang Yi on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, during which he had noted that the implementation of the October 21 agreement between both nations on disengagement at the LAC had proceeded as planned.
In December, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, who is India's Special Representative (SR) on the boundary question, had met with Wang Yi for the 23rd meeting of the SRs in Beijing on December 18.
As agreed during the meeting of PM Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kazan on October 23, the two SRs held discussions on the management of peace and tranquility in the border areas and to explore a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to the boundary question.
In January this year, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri visited Beijing for the meeting of the Foreign Secretary-Vice Minister mechanism between the two sides.
Wang Yi is Member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs of China.
UNI RN