India-China ties moving in 'positive direction': Jaishankar

Relations between India and China are moving in a "positive direction" after the more-than-four-year-long military standoff on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) though "there is work to be done" to normalize ties, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said on Wednesday.

- Rezaul H Laskar

NEW DELHI:

After the two sides reached an understanding last October to end the face-off at the two remaining friction points of Demchok and Depsang at LAC, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping met in Russia and agreed to revive several mechanisms to address the border dispute and normalize relations.

Jaishankar, who has met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi since the understanding last October, said at the News18 Rising Bharat Summit 2025 that India and China are now focusing on issues such as the resumption of direct flights and the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage, which had stopped in 2020 either because of the Covid-19 pandemic or the subsequent standoff on LAC.

"I think we are moving in a positive direction," he said, indicating the process of normalizing relations with China is "very arduous and painstaking".