Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi are expected to meet in Moscow during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) foreign ministers’ talks next month. It is believed that China is keen on this meeting, but it has not been confirmed by India yet. The proposed meeting is yet to be formally confirmed on 10 September.
On Thursday, the Foreign Ministry may clarify the situation in this regard. Sources said that Jaishankar may take a short trip to Moscow to join the SCO. Earlier, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh had gone to Moscow, but he had not met his Chinese counterpart.
After the Galwan Valley violence, the foreign ministers of the two countries had a phone conversation on 17 June amid tension. Jaishankar and Wang Yi also participated in the Russia-India-China trilateral virtual meeting in June. The two are also expected to attend a virtual meeting of BRICS foreign ministers on 4 September, but no face-to-face bilateral meeting between the two governments has been held since the dispute.
Significantly, Russia is interested in reducing the tension between India and China from behind the scenes. However, Russia has made it clear that no third party is needed in the dispute. India and China are able to settle mutual disputes in a peaceful manner. The whole world, including the US, is looking at India-China relations.
