Shillong, May 3: To press for a resolution of outstanding boundary disputes in East Ladakh, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will meet his Chinese counterpart Qi Gang on Thursday on the sidelines of the SCO Foreign Ministers Meeting in Goa.
Normalisation of bilateral ties between the two Asian superpowers is being held back by the ongoing Depsang Bulge and Demchok in East Ladakh conflicts.
However, External Affairs Minister Jaishankar and Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who is anticipated to attend the SCO FM meeting as well, do not have a bilateral meeting planned. While EAM Jaishankar has consistently brought up the problem of cross-border terrorism coming from Pakistan, Zardari has gone far beyond his mandate and spewed venom in the context of Kashmir against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in particular and against India in general.
FM Zardari visits India at a time when Hina Rabbani Khar, his deputy, is making headlines for urging Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to sever ties with the US in favour of a strategic alliance with China in a leaked communique to western media.
The meeting between EAM Jaishankar and Chinese FM Qi Gang is a sign that both sides are eager to resolve open border issues and have the patience to deal with the issue without further escalating border tensions, even though the SCO FM meeting is anticipated to finalise the agreements to be signed in the July SCO summit.
The Chinese military commander made it clear that the PLA wanted the problem fixed but intended to request guidance from Beijing on both the Depsang Bulge and Demchok area even at the April 23, 2023, top military commanders conference at Chushul.
