Avoiding trade curbs vital for normalisation of ties, India tells China

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A highway in India’s Arunachal Pradesh state which runs to the Chinese border. India and China share a 3,800km border that is poorly demarcated.

PHOTO: REUTERS

BEIJING/NEW DELHI – India and China must resolve friction along their border, pull back troops and avoid “restrictive trade measures” to normalise their relationship, India’s foreign minister told his Chinese counterpart in Beijing on July 14.

India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar met China’s Mr Wang Yi in Beijing during his first trip to the country since 2020, when a deadly border clash between their troops led to a four-year military stand-off and damaged ties until a thaw began in October 2024, when they

agreed to step back

“Good progress” made by the countries in the past nine months for normalisation of relations is a result of the resolution of friction along their border, Dr Jaishankar told Mr Wang.

India and China share a 3,800km border that is poorly demarcated and has been disputed since the 1950s. They fought a brief but brutal border war in 1962, and talks over the decades to settle the dispute have made slow progress.

In June, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told his Chinese counterpart that the two countries should seek

a “permanent solution” to the border dispute

“It is now incumbent on us to address other aspects related to the border, including de-escalation,” Dr Jaishankar said, adding that it was also critical that restrictive trade