Attended the RIC Foreign Ministers Meeting hosted by FM Lavrov in Moscow. Thank him for his warm hospitality. India takes on the Chair of the RIC process. pic.twitter.com/fNAFI0aaCL
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) September 10, 2020
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is set to hold a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting in Moscow.
The talks between the two foreign ministers are taking place against the backdrop of a massive spike in border tensions in eastern Ladakh triggered by fresh face-offs between the armies of India and China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
“This issue will be discussed,” MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said when asked at a media briefing whether the four-month-long border faceoff will be raised by Jaishankar at the talks.
Jaishankar and Wang are in Moscow to attend a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting.
The focus of the bilateral talks between the two leaders is expected to be on finding a breakthrough to cool down tensions in eastern Ladakh.
A meeting between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe on the margins of another SCO meet in Moscow last Friday apparently did not yield any tangible outcome.
MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said that the Indian side is committed to resolving the issue through peaceful means.
“Both India and China are in regular touch over the current situation. Our position, that we have reiterated, is that the indian side is committed to resolving the issue through peaceful means,” the MEA spokesperson said.
Before bilateral talks with China, EAM Jaishankar held a trialteral meeting with China’s Wang Yi and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is in Moscow on a four-day visit to attend the meeting of foreign ministers of the SCO of which both India and China are members. The SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the Presidents of Russia, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. India and Pakistan were admitted as observers of the grouping in 2005. Both countries were admitted as full members of the bloc in 2017.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is set to hold a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Moscow. The meeting comes days after India and China accused each other of firing in the air, which has become the latest flashpoint in the border dispute. Tensions escalated in leaps after the Galwan Valley clash in which 20 Indian Army personnel were killed. The Chinese side also suffered casualties but it is yet to give out the details. As the talks failed to bring any results, on the intervening night of August 29-30 the tension escalated further as the Chinese troops tried to occupy Indian territory in the southern bank of Pangong Lake.