External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Monday said the situation at eastern Ladakh, where Indian and Chinese troops have been in an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation since April, was “very serious” and called for “deep conversations between the two sides at the political level”.

He was addressing the Express E-Adda event of Indian Express on Monday evening 

“If you look at the 30 years, because it was peace and tranquillity at the border, it allowed relation to progress,” said Mr Jaishankar when asked what he would tell the Chinese Foreign Minister if he met him on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s Foreign Minister-level meeting in Moscow on September 10. 

India and China need to find an “accommodation”, he said.

Ties with Bangladesh

Mr. Jaishankar praised the government’s approach to the neighbourhood and highlighted the special relationship with Bangladesh in the east.

India and Bangladesh will hold the Joint Consultative Commission’s meeting very soon, he said. “Warm conversation with Foreign Minister Dr A. K. Abdul Momen of Bangladesh. Agreed to hold our Joint Consultative Commission very soon. Will continue to work closely to reach the ambitious goals set by our leaders,” he said in a social media post. 

A fortnight ago, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and his counterpart, Masud Bin Momen, in Dhaka. 

During the meeting of the two Foreign Secretaries, both sides agreed to convene the Joint Consultative Commission soon.