EAM Jaishankar set to make first visit to China in 5 years, scheduled to meet..., will discuss...

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will arrive in Beijing on Sunday evening, his first trip to China in five years. The visit comes at a time when both countries are trying to ease tensions and improve ties that plummeted following the deadly Galwan Valley clashes in 2020. Jaishankar, who is on a two-nation tour -- Singapore and China is scheduled to arrive in Beijing this evening after wrapping up the Singapore leg of his visit.

Set to meet Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi

The External Affairs Minister is expected to meet his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, for a bilateral meeting on Monday. Jaishankar and Wang last met in February on the sidelines of a G20 meeting in Johannesburg, where both sides echoed calls for mutual trust and support.

Jaishankar will also attend a meeting of foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Foreign Ministers' in Tianjin on July 15. The Ministry of External Affairs confirmed that "EAM will visit the People's Republic of China to participate in the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers' Meeting (CFM) being held in Tianjin. EAM will also hold bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the CFM."

First visit since Galwan Valley dispute

This is Jaishankar's first visit to China since relations soured following the deadly military clash in Galwan in 2020. Jaishankar's visit follows visits by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, who had travelled to China in June for the SCO meetings. Wang Yi is also expected to visit India next month to meet NSA Ajit Doval -- part of a planned round of dialogue under the Special Representatives (SR) mechanism aimed at resolving the decades-old boundary dispute.

Even as diplomatic talks continue, China's recent trade actions have raised eyebrows in New Delhi. In recent weeks, China has either delayed or stopped key exports to India, including rare earth magnets, fertilisers, and tunnel boring machines meant for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project.

Tensions between India and China at SCO

Adding fuel to the fire, China's covert and overt support to Pakistan, particularly during the clashes in May this year, remains a sticking point. These thorny issues threaten to overshadow any constructive dialogue at the SCO meeting. The SCO meeting may also come with its own set of challenges. Last month, India refused to sign a joint statement at the SCO defence ministers' meeting after it did not include any mention of the terror attack in Pahalgam, which killed 26 people. India had pushed for strong references to terrorism, but one country -- believed to be Pakistan -- disagreed.

A similar deadlock may play out again during the foreign ministers' meeting, making Jaishankar's task tougher. SCO is a 10-nation Eurasian security and political grouping whose members include China, Russia, India, Pakistan, and Iran.

The 25th Heads of State Council meeting of the SCO will be held in Tianjin later this year. India had chaired the SCO Presidency in 2023 while Pakistan hosted the SCO Leaders' Summit in 2024. The 2020 Galwan Valley standoff between India and China was the worst border clash in over 40 years, resulting in the death of soldiers on both sides.

The incident sharply escalated tensions and brought bilateral ties to a historic low. The decision to revive the SR dialogue and other dormant channels was reportedly taken during a brief exchange between PM Modi and President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of a summit in Kazan, Russia, in October last year.

There have been a few glimmers of positive movement, most notably the resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra after nearly five years. It remains unclear whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to China to attend the grouping's annual summit. 

(with ANI inputs)