India pushes back on China's readout of Jaishankar-Wang Yi meeting in Manila

India has disputed China's account of a meeting between External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Manila, saying New Delhi did not say it respects China's sovereignty. The exchange centres on competing readouts of remarks made on July 22, when the two ministers met on the sidelines of the ASEAN and East Asia foreign ministers meeting in the Philippines.

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It adds another layer of friction to a relationship that has been shaped in recent years by border tensions and efforts to stabilise ties. At a weekly briefing on Friday, the Ministry of External Affairs said Jaishankar had instead stressed that India should be raising sovereignty issues. Official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India does not violate China's sovereignty in any manner and has been consistent in its position.

He also said China is in illegal occupation of Indian territory in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh since 1963, and that India objects to Chinese projects on territory it says belongs to India. China's readout, carried by state media, had said Jaishankar told Wang that India's positions on Taiwan and Xizang had not changed and that India respects China's sovereignty. India rejected that formulation and said the minister's actual point was different.

Jaishankar's own public remarks in Manila focused on the need for peace and tranquillity in border areas as a prerequisite for normal ties. He said that since October 2024 both sides had been working to support that objective and that relevant mechanisms should receive full support. The dispute matters because the wording of diplomatic readouts can signal how each side wants to frame a sensitive relationship.

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India and China have been trying to manage tensions after a four-year border standoff in eastern Ladakh, and the two countries agreed a disengagement pact in October 2024 that was completed in November 2024. The latest disagreement shows that even as both sides continue contact, they remain divided over core issues including sovereignty, border security and the status of disputed territory. The Manila meeting took place during a regional diplomatic gathering that brought together foreign ministers from across Asia.

For India, the border issue remains central to any broader normalisation of ties with China, and New Delhi has repeatedly linked progress in relations to calm along the frontier. The reference to Taiwan and Xizang also underlines how bilateral exchanges can quickly widen into questions of principle and official language. What remains unclear is whether the two governments will issue any further clarification or whether the dispute will stay limited to the competing public readouts.

It is also not clear whether the disagreement will affect the ongoing diplomatic track that has followed the 2024 disengagement agreement. For now, the episode suggests that while dialogue continues, both sides are still closely guarding their positions on sovereignty and border-related issues.

#India #China #SJaishankar #WangYi #Manila

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