On Wednesday, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar declared that there has been a notable improvement in India’s ties with China. He stated during the CNN News 18 Rising Bharat Summit 2025 that China and India are currently debating collateral problems pertaining to direct flights, COVID-19, and the restart of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra.
“The relationship is much better than before. I think the disengagement, particularly the Depsang Demchok, was important,” the EAM said.
“We are now addressing, to some extent, the issues on the border because there has been a force build-up over a period of years. Many other things also happened during this period. Some of it was collateral to the situation, and some of it was a carryover from the Covid era,” he said.
“For example, our direct flights stopped during Covid. They were not resumed. The Kailash Mansarovar Yatra stopped during Covid and did not resume. So, I think there is work to be done. We are at it. We are trying to see whether we can make progress on a lot of these issues post-Covid, and parallel to the border tensions. We are looking into it because, at the end of the day, we’ve always maintained that the situation between 2020-2024 was not in the interest of either country; it was not in the interest of our relationship. I think there is recognition of that now, and we are moving in a positive direction,” the foreign minister added.
An agreement on patrolling procedures in the Depsang Plains and Demchok, two places of friction along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), was previously arrived by China and India in October 2024. Following discussions at the diplomatic and military levels, an accord was reached following previous disengagements in other areas of friction in eastern Ladakh.
During the 16th BRICS Summit in October of last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi met in Kazan.
PM Modi praised the deal for total disengagement and the settlement of the 2020 boundary disputes between China and India. He emphasized how crucial it is to resolve disagreements and conflicts in a way that preserves peace and quiet.
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