EAM Jaishankar raises trade roadblocks in talks with Chinese counterpart Wang Yi

External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Monday held a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing and raised the issue of restrictive trade measures and roadblocks to economic cooperation in the backdrop of restrictions on rare earth magnet supplies to India.

He also brought up the issue of faster de-escalation along LAC in eastern Ladakh and the two sides agreed to take additional practical steps, including travel to each other's country and direct flight connectivity, for facilitating people-to-people exchanges, said the external affairs ministry.

"The EAM highlighted the positive impact of peace and tranquillity in the border for smooth development in bilateral relations and supported continued efforts towards de-escalation and border management. He underlined the need for cooperation on trans-border rivers, including resumption of provision of hydrological data by the Chinese side. He also took up restrictive trade measures and roadblocks to economic cooperation," said a statement issued by the ministry.


"Our bilateral relationship requires that we take a far-seeing approach to our ties... We have made good progress in the past nine months for the normalisation of our bilateral relations. It is a result of the resolution of friction along the border and our ability to maintain peace and tranquillity there. This is the fundamental basis for mutual strategic trust and for smooth development of bilateral relations," Jaishankar told Wang.

ET had reported that India and China could discuss a range of contentious issues, including the Dalai Lama's succession and the recent Indo-Pak tensions when Jaishankar meets Wang Yi. Jaishankar and Wang Yi reviewed the overall state of India-China bilateral relationship.

Jaishankar appreciated China's cooperation for the resumption of the Kailash Manasarovar yatra. He offered India's support for a successful Shanghai Cooperation Organisation presidency amid expectations of the PM's visit for the summit.