S Jaishankar, the External Affairs Minister of India, and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi will meet each other in Moscow on September 10. The main focus will be on the bilateral meeting. The bilateral meeting is key to reduce the tension along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
Jaishankar and Wang Yi will be participating in a meeting of foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). This will be followed by a luncheon meeting of foreign ministers of Russia, India, and China (RIC) grouping.
The bilateral meeting is scheduled to take place at 6 pm. This meeting will be the first between Jaishankar and Wang since the standoff in Ladakh. The two leaders spoke on phone on June 17, two days after the deadly clash in Galwan Valley.
Ahead of his departure for Russia, Jaishankar also emphasized on the need for political contacts to reduce the ongoing tension between India and China. He also wants to end the stalemate in the disengagement process along LAC.
The RIC meeting between Jaishankar, Wang, and Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov signifies great importance to ease the border tensions. Russia has also been pushing for dialogue between New Delhi and Beijing for easing border tensions. Russia has good ties with both India and China.
According to Roman Babushkin, Russian Deputy Chief of Mission, Russia is not directly mediating between India and China. However, they focus on creating a positive atmosphere through SCO, BRICS, and RIC.
According to experts, the meeting between Jaishankar and Wang is likely to result in an immediate breakthrough. It could also set for further political engagements to end the standoff.
However, according to Babushkin, the SCO charter has no scope for discussing bilateral disputes. Although the grouping is a comfortable platform for building common grounds and mutual trusts.