As the two nations made progress toward normalizing their ties, visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi gave External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar assurances on Monday that his country would resume the much-needed supply of fertilizers, rare earth minerals, and tunnel boring machines (TBM). During Minister Wang Yi's visit to China last month, it is understood that EAM Jaishankar discussed the supply of urea, NPK and DAP, rare earth minerals, and TBM. However, the topic of boundary talks and border issues was not taken up by Jaishankar, as it will be taken up by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval during the Special Representative Dialogue today.Minister Wang meets Prime Minister Narendra Modi this evening.
EAM Jaishankar informed his Chinese counterpart that India's stance on Taiwan remained unchanged and that, like the rest of the world, India maintained a diplomatic presence for cultural and economic ties. While the talks were cordial, US President Donald Trump was the elephant in the meeting room, with both sides agreeing that they need to come closer due to prevailing policies of Washington.The general consensus was that the US will target both India and China with its policies and decisions, and that dialogue between the two sides would help ease the uncertainty. The fact remains that China agreeing to deliver on fertilizers, TBM, and rare earths is a big development, as Beijing had put a brake on Indian imports for nearly a year.Nearly 30% of India's fertilizers, rare earths for automobile parts, and tunnel boring machines for road and urban infrastructure development come from China. Even though border talks were not a part of the Jaishankar-Wang meeting, the sensitive topic will be brought up and talked about a lot in the SR-level talks by NSA Ajit Doval, with a focus on de-escalation of forces on the 3488-kilometer Line of Actual Control (LAC). Even though the boundary friction and patrolling issues have been sorted out in Ladakh, both the Indian and Chinese armies are still amassed on the border, and hence there is a need for sending the troops back to barracks.
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