SCO meet: Jaishankar meets Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing; calls for ‘far-seeing approach’ in India-China ties | India News

NEW DELHI: External affairs minister S Jaishankar met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Tuesday, his first go to to the nation in six years, amid indicators of bettering relations between the 2 neighbours following years of border pressure. Jaishankar was in China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) overseas ministers’ assembly, the place he additionally met his counterpart Wang Yi.“Called on President Xi Jinping this morning in Beijing along with my fellow SCO Foreign Ministers,” Jaishankar wrote on X. “Conveyed the greetings of President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Apprised President Xi of the recent development of our bilateral ties. Value the guidance of our leaders in that regard.”During his bilateral assembly with Wang Yi, Jaishankar mentioned India and China had made “good progress” over the previous 9 months in normalising relations, attributing it to the decision of friction alongside the border and the upkeep of peace and tranquillity. “This is the fundamental basis for mutual strategic trust and for smooth development of bilateral relations. It is now incumbent on us to address other aspects related to the border, including de-escalation,” he mentioned.Jaishankar emphasised that each international locations should proceed to construct on this optimistic momentum. “We have earlier agreed that differences should not become disputes, nor should competition ever become conflict,” he mentioned. “Stable and constructive ties between India and China are not only to our benefit, but that of the world as well. This is best done by handling relations on the basis of mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity.”The minister additionally raised issues about China’s export controls that would damage home manufacturing in India. He urged Beijing to keep away from “restrictive trade measures and roadblocks” and advocated steps to enhance people-to-people ties, resembling easing journey, resuming direct flights, and selling exchanges. “Measures towards normalising our people-to-people exchanges can certainly foster mutually beneficial cooperation,” he mentioned.During the SCO assembly, Jaishankar additionally reiterated India’s stance on terrorism, reminding Wang that the group’s main mandate was to fight terrorism, separatism and extremism. “This is a shared concern and India hopes that zero tolerance for terrorism will be strongly upheld,” he acknowledged, extending India’s help to China’s SCO presidency.He additional confused the necessity for cooperation on trans-border rivers, together with the resumption of hydrological information sharing by China. He welcomed China’s determination to permit the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra to renew after a five-year pause, a transfer agreed upon earlier this yr.The go to follows a major turning level in October 2023, when India and China resolved the extended army standoff in japanese Ladakh, clearing the best way for Prime Minister Modi and President Xi to satisfy in Kazan on the sidelines of the BRICS summit. That assembly helped restart high-level diplomatic channels, with Modi anticipated to go to China in September for the SCO summit.