Focus on trust & frictions

Says restrictive trade measures and roadblocks should be avoided

- SHUBHAJIT ROY

UNDERLINING THAT "DIFFERENCES should not become disputes" nor should "competition ever become conflict", External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday that while India and China have made good progress in the past nine months towards the normalization of bilateral relations, they should work to address de-escalation on the border.

This is Jaishankar's first visit to China since the military standoff along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh began in May 2020. Meeting Wang Yi ahead of the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation) Foreign Ministers' meeting in Tianjin on Tuesday, Jaishankar said that terrorism is a "shared concern" and India hopes that "zero tolerance for terrorism will be strongly upheld" at the meeting. He also said that "restrictive trade measures and roadblocks" should be avoided.

"Our bilateral relationship requires that we take a far-seeing approach to our ties. Since our leaders' meeting in Kazan in October 2024, the India-China relationship has been gradually moving in a positive direction. Our responsibility is to maintain that momentum," Jaishankar said.