India's external affairs minister Dr S Jaishankar and Chinese foreign minister spoke for one hour and fifteen minutes on Thursday afternoon, the first such talks since the disengagement at Pangong lake in eastern Ladakh was completed. One of the key outcomes of the talks was the establishment of hotlines between the two countries at the Foreign minister level for timely communication.
EAM recalled the Moscow pact of September 2020 between the 2 countries that laid emphasis on the disengagement. Both ministers had met on the sidelines of Shanghai cooperation organisation FMs meet to discuss the situation at LAC. During the talks, the message from India's side was to 'quickly resolve' the remaining issues at the Line of actual control.
The MEA readout said, "Once disengagement is completed at all friction points, then the two sides could also look at broader de-escalation of troops in the area and work towards the restoration of peace and tranquility." India's focus is on disengagement at Depsang plains, hot springs, and Gogra.
New Delhi has proposed ‘three mutuals’ approach to the relation that calls for mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutual interests, something that has been noted by Beijing as well.
The Chinese read out making a conciliatory note said both sides "should handle the boundary question properly to prevent the bilateral relationship from sinking into a negative cycle". It explained, "As two big emerging economies, China and India need to pursue development alongside each other, move forward in partnership instead of hindrance, and work together for shared progress rather than erecting walls against each other."
In the aftermath of Galwan incident of June 2020 in which India lost 20 of its soldiers, New Delhi had taken number of measures like banning Chinese apps, increasing scrutiny on Chinese investment.
