- India’s external affairs minister is on a visit to China.During the visit,India and China has agreed on a host of initiatives to improve their relations.
- Ahead of the visit,China had objected to the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill 2019.It said that the creation of the Union Territory of Ladakh has undermined its sovereignty.
- However,India has reassured China that its decision to exercise greater administrative control over Ladakh would have no implications for India’s external boundaries or the Line of Actual Control with China.
- India has also said that legislative measures were aimed at better governance and socio-economic development.
- During the meeting,China has also raised the rising tensions between India and Pakistan as a result of these changes.But India has reiterated that it was an internal matter that had no bearing on Pakistan.
- The two countries also discussed India’s trade deficit with China. Besides,four bilateral pacts were signed on (a)culture (b)traditional medicine (c)sports and (d)museum management.
- The foreign minister also co-chaired the second meeting of the High Level Mechanism(HLM) on Cultural and People-to-People Exchanges. The HLM was established during the first informal summit in Wuhan in April 2018.
