EAM Jaishankar to meet China's FM Wang Yi at sidelines of SCO summit amid LAC tensions

Amid heightened tensions at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday 6 PM. This meeting comes along the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) council of foreign ministers’ summit in Moscow. This meeting becomes crucial as the Indian Army and the Chinese PLA soldiers are involved in a standoff at the border and the brigade commander-level talks between two countries, that started last Monday, ended inconclusively.

While Russia has exuded confidence that India and China will be able to resolve the border standoff through dialogue, and ruled out any possibility of its mediation, the Indian side is all set to maintain its stance on the LAC standoff amid China's denial and provocation. 

EAM Jaishankar in an exclusive interview to Republic Media Network's Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami had said that both countries can co-exist. Explaining the situation at the border that led to the violent clash at Galwan on June 15, he had said that China attempted to unilaterally change the status quo. He had observed that India and China have to talk at the ground level, diplomatic level, and political level to settle matters but highlighted that the principles of the settlement must be honoured by both sides. 

Here's a look at all that happened in the last few days that make the meeting between the Foreign Ministers crucial:

• On August 30, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops violated the previous consensus arrived at during military & diplomatic engagements on the intervening night of August 29 & 30. The Indian AmryThe Indian troops not only pre-empted the activity of the PLA on the southern bank of the Pangong Tso lake but also thwarted attempts to unilaterally change the facts on the ground. 
   
• On August 31, the Ministry of External Affairs revealed that China once again engaged in provocative action even as the ground commanders of the two nations were trying to deescalate the situation. However, the Indian Army yet again foiled the attempt to unilaterally change the status quo. 
   
• Chinese Defence Minister met Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh on September 5 in Moscow. Sources have said that Rajnath Singh reiterated India’s position on the developments along the LAC including in the Galwan valley in the Western Sector of the India-China Border Areas and pointed out China's aggressive behaviour and its attempts to unilaterally alter the status quo. In the marathon 2 hours and 20 minutes meeting, Defence Minister emphasised that the actions of the Chinese troops, including amassing of large number of troops, were in violation of the bilateral agreements. Ahead of meeting, sources reported that Chinese Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe was very keen to meet his Indian counterpart. 
   
• On September 8, the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) mouthpiece Global Times claimed that the Indian troops illegally crossed the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and 'outrageously fired warning shots' on Chinese border patrol soldiers who were about to negotiate. The Indian Army refuted all the claims by China and clarified that India is committed to disengagement and de-escalating the situation on the LAC but China continues to undertake provocative activities to escalate. It also said that PLA troops fired a few rounds in the air but Indian Army troops  'exercised great restraint and behaved in a mature and responsible manner'.
   
• The disappearance of five people from Arunachal Pradesh came to the fore when Pasighat West MLA Ninong Ering raised the issue. Claiming that the youths from the Upper Subansiri district had been abducted by PLA, he called for a befitting reply to China. Reportedly, the family members of the missing persons in Nacho approached the Indian Army on September 5. The Chinese Army then confirmed that the 5 missing youths from Arunachal Pradesh have been found, as revealed by Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju. However, China maintained that it did not recognise 'Arunachal Pradesh' and alleged it to be a part of China's south Tibet region.
   
• Earlier this month, after Chinese troops attempted to unilaterally change the status quo along the LAC, the Indian government banned 118 Chinese Apps including PUBG. It had earlier banned 59 Chinese-linked Apps and then the Information and Technology Ministry banned 47 Apps which were variants or clones of these banned apps.  It noted with deep concern the compilation of data, its mining and profiling by elements hostile to national security. China had expressed its displeasure and said that India has abused the concept of national security and adopted discriminatory restrictive measures against Chinese companies.
   
• 20 Indian Army soldiers including a Commanding Officer were martyred when a violent faceoff took place on June 15 when the de-escalation process was underway in the Galwan Valley. As per the Editor-in-Chief of Global Times, the Chinese side also suffered casualties during the physical clash. Multiple rounds of Corps Commander-level meetings and WMCC talks have been held between India and China.
   
• This high-level meeting comes after the Defence Ministers meeting and after the crucial July 5 meeting when National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a two-hour-long telephonic conversation on ways to resolve LAC clash. The formal process of disengagement of troops began a day after Doval-Wang talks. Both Doval and Wang are special representatives for boundary talks.