World / Our relation is at low point, ready for mutually acceptable solutions: China to India

Beijing: With New Delhi conveying to Beijing in clear terms that the Ladakh standoff was visibly impacting the bilateral relations in a “negative manner”, China on Thursday said it is ready to seek a “mutually acceptable solution” to the issues that require “urgent treatment” through negotiation and consultation.

This came following an in-person meeting between External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of an SCO conclave in Dushanbe on Wednesday.

Jaishankar during the hour-long meeting also told his Chinese counterpart that any unilateral change in the status quo along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) was “not acceptable” to New Delhi.

He added that the overall ties between the two sides can only develop after full restoration of peace and tranquility in eastern Ladakh.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry in a statement posted on Thursday on its website on Wang’s talks with Jaishankar said, the minister stated that India-China relations remained at a “low point” while the situation at the border has “generally been easing” after the withdrawal of troops from the Galwan Valley and Pangong Lake, PTI reported.

Wang said the ties between China and China are, however, still at a “low point” which is not in “anyone’s interest”.

“China is ready to seek a mutually acceptable solution to the issues that require urgent treatment through negotiation and consultation with the Indian side,” he added.

The border standoff between the Indian and Chinese militaries along the Line of Actual Control escalated last year. The two sides are currently engaged in talks to extend the disengagement process to the remaining friction points.