Have to address real problems, India tells China

This was Jaishankar's first meeting with Qin, a close aide of President Xi Jinping, since he was appointed foreign minister last year.

- Rezaul H Laskar

External affairs minister S Jaishankar told his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang on Thursday that ties between the two countries are "abnormal" and the two sides have to address "real problems", remarks that were made against the backdrop of the nearly three-year military standoff on the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

The two leaders met on the margins of the G20 foreign ministers meeting, and Jaishankar made it clear that the fallout of the border tensions on bilateral relations dominated their talks.

"We spent maybe about 45 minutes talking to each other and the bulk of our conversation, understandably, was about the current state of our relationship, which many of you have heard me describe as abnormal," Jaishankar told a media briefing.