India, China’s foreign ministers to discuss ‘total disengagement’ along LAC

Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will be meeting his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Moscow on September 10.

The bilateral meeting between the two ministers is likely to discuss ways and means to resolve the present Ladakh standoff. The two leaders shall meet on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) ministerial hosted by the Russian Federation.

While Jaishankar will arrive in Moscow on Tuesday evening, foreign minister Wang will reach the next day. The much-anticipated meeting is expected to initiate the process of complete disengagement and de-escalation of People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh met his Chinese counterpart Gen Wei Fenghe on the same platform on September 5, but the talks remained inconclusive. The meeting was sought by Wei Fenghe after the Indian Army troops pre-empted a PLA aggression on south of Pangong Tso on August 29-30.

In the next meeting, Indian foreign minister Jaishankar will insist on China respecting the past bilateral agreements in letter and spirit including keeping minimum forces along the 3488km LAC.

It is believed that Chinese aggression along LAC with India is a ploy of the Chinese Communist Government to take the limelight away from China’s domestic discontent. However, the Chinese strategy has clearly not worked so far with India holding its forte. The Xi Jinping regime has been asking the Indian Army to withdraw from their new positions south of Pangong Tso, but India hasn’t budged.