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India China Border Row
India has virtually ruled out any role for a third party in its border dispute with China after US President Donald Trump suggested that he was ready to extend support if it helps in the resolution of the lingering issue between the two neighbours. At a media briefing, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said on Thursday (Friday IST) that New Delhi has always adopted a bilateral approach in dealing with these issues. As a matter of long-held policy, India has been maintaining that there is no role for any third party in any of its bilateral issues or disputes with any country. "Your question about the offer to mediate between India and China, I think, I suspect you know the answer to this question," he said when asked about Trump's offer. "Whatever issues we have with any of our neighbours, we have always adopted a bilateral approach to dealing with these issues. It's no different between India and China," he said. "We have been discussing any issues that we have with them on a bilater
India and China on Monday decided to resume the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra as the two sides agreed to take certain people-centric steps to "stabilise and rebuild" ties. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said this following Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri's talks with his Chinese counterpart Sun Weidong in Beijing. It said the two sides also agreed in principle to resume direct air services between the two countries. "As agreed between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping at their meeting in Kazan in October, the two sides reviewed the state of India-China bilateral relations comprehensively and agreed to take certain people-centric steps to stabilize and rebuild ties," the MEA said. "In this context, the two sides decided to resume the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra in the summer of 2025," it said. The MEA said the two sides also agreed to hold an early meeting of the India-China expert level mechanism to discuss resumption of provision of hydrological data and other
The India-China relationship is trying to disentangle itself from the complications arising from the post-2020 border situation and more thought needs to be given to the longer-term evolution of the ties, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Saturday. Delving into various aspects of New Delhi's relations with Beijing over past decades, Jaishankar said "misreadings" by past policy-makers, whether driven by "idealism or absence of realpolitik", has helped neither cooperation nor competition with China. That has clearly changed in the last decade, he said at delivering the Nani Palkhivala memorial lecture in Mumbai. Mutual trust, mutual respect and mutual sensitivity should remain the basis of the relationship between the two sides, he said adding more thought needs to be given to the longer-term evolution of ties. At a time when most of its relationships are moving forward, India confronts a particular challenge in establishing an equilibrium with China. Much of that arises
The Indo-Tibetan Border Police has brought "forward" 33 of its earmarked 56 border posts along the India-China LAC and deployed six new battalions as part of its plan to enhance operational capabilities along the icy front. Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Director General (DG) Rahul Rasgotra said this during the force's 63rd Raising Day parade on Tuesday in Odisha's Khordha district. The about-90,000-personnel strong, mountain warfare-trained paramilitary marks its annual raising day on October 24 but the ceremonial event kept getting delayed for over two months due to a variety of reasons, a senior officer told PTI. The DG said the force prepared a "forwardisation plan" and, as part of this, a total of 56 ITBP border posts along the India-China Line of Actual Control (LAC) were being brought "closer" to the front. Of the 56 border posts, 33 had already been brought closer to the border, he said. The ITBP chief also said the government sanctioned seven new battalions for border
China on Monday reiterated its plan to build the world's biggest dam over the Brahmaputra River in Tibet near the Indian border, saying the planned project has gone through rigorous scientific verification and will not have any negative impact on downstream countries -- India and Bangladesh. The project, estimated to cost around USD 137 billion, is located in the ecologically fragile Himalayan region along a tectonic plate boundary where earthquakes occur frequently. China's construction of the hydropower project over in the Yarlung Tsangpo River (the Tibetan name for Brahmaputra River) downstream has gone through rigorous scientific verification and will not have any negative impact on the ecological environment, geology and water resources of the downstream countries, Chinese Foreign Ministry's new spokesman Guo Jiakun told a media briefing here. On the contrary, it will be conducive to downstream disaster prevention and mitigation and response to climate change to a certain exten
In a year marked by geopolitical tensions and turbulence, India and China ended an over four-and-a-half-year border standoff and announced steps to reduce mistrust even as New Delhi faced fresh challenges after deposed Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country in the face of a mass movement against her rule. The year 2024 saw India shifting gears in expanding its strategic heft in the neighbourhood and beyond with a steely resolve while navigating the two most consequential crises -- the war in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas conflict. At the fag end of the year, New Delhi was readying its approach in dealing with US President-elect Donald Trump's second term amid fears that his policy approach relating to trade and tariff may have profound implications for international trade. Though the overall India-US relations broadly continued to blossom, especially in the domains of defence, critical technologies and clean energy, the ties came under some strain over the so-called
China's Defence Ministry on Thursday said that the Chinese and Indian militaries are "comprehensively and effectively" implementing the agreement to end the standoff at eastern Ladakh and "steady progress" has been made. Chinese Defence Spokesperson Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang made the remarks during a media briefing here while answering a question on the December 18 Special Representatives talks. "At present, the Chinese and Indian militaries are comprehensively and effectively implementing the border-related solutions reached between the two sides, and steady progress has been made," he said. He said that in recent times, based on the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, China and India have maintained close communication on the border situation through diplomatic and military channels and achieved great progress. Following the October 21 agreement between India and China, Special Representatives for border question NSA Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign