External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Friday met his Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa. Topics of discussion included the issue of the resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra and direct flight connectivity between India and China.
The G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Johannesburg allowed me to meet CPC Politburo member and FM Wang Yi of China this morning on the sidelines of it, Jaishankar stated in a statement on the social media platform X Monday.
Confirming this, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, in Friday’s press briefing, said that the two ministers had reviewed developments in bilateral relations since the two ministers had met in November. Among other things, he said discussions included keeping the peace and stability in border areas, an issue of grave concern to both nations.
The two exchanged views during the meeting on the resumption of the much-awaited Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, which was suspended in 2020 due to the standoff at the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Indian devotees consider a pilgrimage to the sacred site of Kailash Mansarovar in Tibet as a yatra, which is of great religious and cultural value. This was the second order of business after the two sides had agreed in January to resume the pilgrimage as part of broader efforts to “stabilise and rebuild” ties.
Another major point of dialogue was the resumption of direct flight connectivity from India to China, which was also stalled due to the tension on the border. The two leaders also discussed areas of multilateral cooperation such as in the G20 and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
This diplomatic contact marks a step in easing the tension and building historically friendly cooperation between the two neighbouring countries.
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