External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Vientiane, Laos, on Thursday, and discussed border issues along the Line of Actual Control that has festered since 2020 and strained ties.
Jaishankar said the state of the border "will necessarily be reflected" on the state of India-China relations and stressed on New Delhi's position of ensuring adherence to the LAC and past agreements meant to keep tensions low.
"Agreed on the need to give strong guidance to complete the disengagement process," the minister said in a post on X. "It's in our mutual interest to stabilize our ties. We should approach the immediate issues with a sense of purpose and urgency," he said.
Jaishankar arrived in Vientiane earlier on Wednesday to take part in the ASEAN meeting. He also met foreign minister of Norway, besides those from the ASEAN grouping. Engagement with the regional bloc is a key part of India's 'Act East Policy'.
Foreign ministers from Southeast Asian nations and top diplomats from key partner countries such as the US and China have gathered in the Laotian capital for the three-day meet. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Wang Yi are among the attendees.
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Jaishankar and Yi met earlier this month in the Kazakh capital city of Astana on the sidelines of the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. India has been maintaining that its ties with China cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas.
The bilateral ties nosedived significantly following the fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020, that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades.
The pre-budget Economic Survey released earlier this week made a strong case for seeking foreign direct investments from Beijing to boost local manufacturing and tap the export market.
Currently, the majority of FDI entering India is processed through automatic approval channels. However, FDI originating from nations that share land borders must undergo mandatory government approval across all sectors.
In response to border disputes, India banned more than 200 Chinese mobile applications including TikTok, WeChat, and Alibaba's UC Browser. Additionally, a significant investment proposal from electric vehicle manufacturer BYD was turned down by the government.
As per reports, following demands from Indian industry chambers, the government is looking at further streamlining processes for timely approval of visas for Chinese professionals and technicians, whose expertise is required by local firms to set up manufacturing capacity.
(With inputs from PTI)
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