Chinese President Xi Jinping has sent condolence messages to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he was shocked to learn about the deadly bridge collapse in Gujarat's Morbi city that claimed 135 lives.
China on Tuesday announced that its Defence Minister General Li Shangfu will visit India this week to attend the meeting of SCO defence ministers from April 27 during which he is expected to hold talks with his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh on ending the prolonged eastern Ladakh standoff which has severely strained bilateral ties.
China will host the third meeting of the foreign ministers of Afghanistan's neighbours in Tunxi, central China's Anhui province, on March 30-31, the spokesperson said.
In a major confidence building measure, India and China on Tuesday signed an agreement for setting up a mechanism to avert any untoward incident on the border, with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying good cooperation between the two countries would bring "great changes" in the world. The agreement was signed after two days of talks between Special Representatives -- National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon and Chinese State Councillor Dai Bingguo.
After the disengagement process is completed, the two armies are likely to hold further talks to take the process further.
India's concerns over China's plans to build two nuclear reactors for Pakistan and bilateral issues are set to figure prominently during talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's special envoy Shiv Shankar Menon and the Chinese leadership in Beijing from Saturday.
Ahead of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's New Delhi visit, India and China on Monday explored ways to resolve the vexed boundary issue as the special representatives of the two countries held the 14th round of border talks in Beijng.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday met Sri Lanka's top leadership and discussed a host of issues, including the debt crisis faced by the island nation, investments, promoting tourism and the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic as the two countries marked the 65th anniversary of diplomatic ties.
Though the US has switched diplomatic ties from Taiwan to the China, Washington is the chief patron and defence supplier of the island of 23 million people.\n
Six months after coming to power, the National Democratic Alliance government on Monday named National Security Adviser Ajit Doval as its special representative on boundary talks with China, paving the way for the dialogue to resume at this level.
Important for Chinese President Xi Jinping will be Zhao's discussions on the issues of Tibet and the Dalai Lama and his assessment of the likely results of India's coming national elections, notes former senior RA&W officer and China expert Jayadeva Ranade.
China on Tuesday dismissed reports of fresh incursions by its troops into India as "routine patrolling" and asserted that both countries have a very effective and smooth mechanism to handle border incidents.
India and China have agreed to maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas which was a "pre-requisite" for continued growth of bilateral relations as also to enhance cooperation in key areas, including counter-terrorism, maritime security and civil nuclear energy sector.
India's soft power diplomacy came into play during this cataclysm affecting the world as the pandemic defies barriers and borders, notes Rup Narayan Das.
'A breakthrough in eastern Ladakh leading to disengagement and creation of a buffer zone will obviate the need of military deployment through the winter months ahead,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The US has been, historically, a sleeping partner in India-China relations. Today, any attempt by the Modi government to make a bilateral move to improve relations with Beijing could upset Biden's apple cart, notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
This was the first round of talks for Wang after he succeeded State Councillor Yang Jiechi earlier this year.
'A hotline between the Chinese and Indian military establishments is essential if the possibility of conflict is to be minimised.' 'When relations are uneasy, even minor incidents can spiral out of control,' warns former senior RA&W officer Jayadeva Ranade.
Khan's visit evoked considerable interest in Beijing as it comes in the wake of his past criticism of the USD 50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor projects and remarks by his ministers to cut down some of the projects over debt concern.
'Russian diplomacy is presumably at work.' 'The ground is slippery, because "territorial sovereignty" is a hugely sensitive issue,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Describing the boundary talks with China as "positive", National Security Adviser Ajit Doval on Friday said India has inalienable positions and the government will protect vital national interests.
China has asserted that it had never waged a war to occupy 'an inch of land of other countries', days after Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi slammed the Communist giant for its "expansionist mindset".
"Both India and China are victims of terrorism and the region was suffering from the menace. The prime minister said no country is immune from terrorism and on this issue, we cannot afford to have any differences," MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup told reporters after the meeting.
Jaishankar's talks with Yang and later in the Strategic Dialogue were expected to cover the key India-China differences like China blocking India's bid to join the NSG and UN ban on Azhar.
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