Will Ladakh Standoff End? China’s Foreign Minister To Visit India This Month: Report

This could be the first visit by any senior Chinese leader since the violent clash at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi (File Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Amid the border tension, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi may visit India later this month.

This could be the first visit by any senior Chinese leader since the violent clash at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh.

The Foreign Minister is likely to be in Nepal before his India visit, NDTV reported.

The Foreign Minister’s visit assumes significance as the two sides have continued military-level talks to resolve the Ladakh situation.

There has, however, been not much success in this regard.

The border standoff in eastern Ladakh erupted earlier on May 5, 2020, following a violent clash in the Pangong lake area.

The face-off escalated after the Galwan Valley clashes on June 15, 2020, when at least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers were killed.

A report had claimed that 42, and not four, Chinese soldiers were killed during the clashes, as per NDTV.

The Chinese Foreign Minister had earlier this month said that the two sides have encountered “some setbacks” in the bilateral ties in recent years.

He called for managing the differences over the boundary row through equal footing consultations for a “fair and equitable” settlement.

In an apparent reference to the United Statees, Wang Yi also said that some forces have always sought to stoke tensions between Beijing and New Delhi.

Responding to a poser on the boundary issue and ties between the two neighbours, he said: “China and India relations have encountered some setbacks in recent years which do not serve the fundamental interests of the two countries and the two peoples.”

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had earlier this year said India’s relations with China right now is going through a “very difficult phase” after Beijing violated border agreements.

Jaishankar, who was speaking at the Munich Security Conference (MSC) in Germany, also underlined that the “state of the border will determine the state of the relationship”.