China and India pledge to boost border peace efforts as Wang Yi urges ‘rational approach’

While meeting Chinese counterpart for second time this month, top Indian diplomat says Himalayan border dispute has cast shadow over ties

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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has called on “two big neighbours” China and India to explore ways to “get along with each other” as the two sides agreed to improve communication. Photo: AFP

Published: 4:00pm, 26 Jul 2024Updated: 5:12pm, 26 Jul 2024

At their second meeting this month, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar agreed to make “concerted efforts” to keep the peace along their disputed border and improve communication.

The ministers spoke on Thursday on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) foreign ministers’ meeting in Vientiane, Laos, just three weeks after talks at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, where a reconciliatory tone was established.

Without mentioning the Himalayan border, which saw a deadly clash between troops from the two sides in June 2020, Wang urged India and China to “take a rational approach to rise above differences and frictions”.

“It is hoped that the two sides will work together to actively explore the right way for the two big neighbours to get along with each other and guide all communities to develop positive perceptions of each other,” Wang said, according to the Chinese foreign ministry.

He added that putting relations back on the right track would serve the interests of both sides and meet the shared aspirations of countries in the Global South, reinforcing the stance he took in Kazakhstan, where both sides agreed that prolonging border disagreements was in no one’s interest.

Since the deadly clashes four years ago, Beijing and New Delhi have carried out several rounds of military talks and have disengaged from four points along the border. But both sides have steadily built up military capabilities in the region.

“The two sides agreed to make concerted efforts to maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas and work for new progress in consultations on border affairs,” the Chinese statement said, adding that they were ready to strengthen communication through platforms such as the East Asia Summit, the Group of 20, Brics and the SCO.