Defence Minister Rajnath Singhsaid talks between India and China are going smoothly and India will never bow down.
| Photo Credit: X/@BJP4Gujarat

Talks with China going on smoothly, India will never bow down: Rajnath Singh

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said talks between India and China are going smoothly and in a good environment, and India will never bow down. “India is no longer a weak India. India has also become a powerful country from a military point of view. We want to maintain good relations with our neighbouring countries,” the Defence Minister said when asked about Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s accusation against the Narendra Modi government over Chinese aggression.

After nod for Gujarat onion exports, Centre seeks to soothe Maharashtra farmers

After its move to permit exports of 2,000 tonnes of white onions from Gujarat, amid an extended ban on onion shipments, drew criticism from Opposition leaders and Maharashtra’s onion farmers, the Centre seemed to have stepped into damage control mode with the Consumer Affairs Ministry stating that 99,150 tonnes of exports have been allowed.

Killing of CRPF personnel to draw attention of the Central government for a political solution in Manipur, say officials 

A day after two CRPF personnel were killed in Manipur by unidentified militants, a senior government official said on Sunday that the target seemed to be Meitei members of the State police. The CRPF unit stationed at the camp had withdrawn few days ago while a platoon stayed back. The militants mistook the personnel at the camp for State police forces, officials said, adding that such attacks and violence are expected to continue if a political solution is not arrived at.

One killed, three injured in fresh gunbattles along the Kangpokpi-Imphal West border in Manipur

At least one person has been killed and three others injured in fresh gunfights that occurred in the early hours of Sunday along the border between the Kangpokpi and Imphal West districts in Manipur, where the ethnic conflict between the valley-based Meitei and the hills-based Kuki-Zo communities continues.

RSS never opposed reservation, says Mohan Bhagwat

Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday said the Sangh had never opposed reservation given to certain groups, and maintained that the video making the rounds on social media, in which he is seen speaking against quotas in a meeting, is fake.

14 Pakistan nationals arrested with 86 kg narcotics off Gujarat coast

In a joint mid-sea operation, the Gujarat’s Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) and Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Sunday seized a Pakistani boat with 14 crew members and 86 kg of drugs valued at ₹602 crore off the Porbandar coast in Gujarat. The authorities arrested all 14 persons, who are Pakistan nationals, after their boat was seized in the sea.

Geneva-based UN-related body to review India’s human rights accreditation status this week

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) is preparing to defend the government’s human rights processes at a meeting in Geneva this week, where a decision on whether India’s human rights body will retain its “A status” is expected to be made. The NHRC’s ratings were put on hold in 2023 over concerns on its composition procedure, the presence of police personnel in human rights investigations, and the lack of gender and minority representation, and the decision over whether the NHRC is given an A rating or a B rating would affect its ability to vote at the UN Human Rights Council and some UNGA bodies. 

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak declines to rule out July election amid MP defection

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on April 28 refused to categorically rule out a July general election amid a damaging defection by one of his Conservative Party MPs to the Opposition Labour Party, just days before local and mayoral elections in the country on May 2.

Aerial photos show wide devastation left by tornado in China’s Guangzhou

Aerial photos posted by Chinese state media on April 28 showed the wide devastation of a part of the southern city of Guangzhou after a tornado swept through the day before, killing five people, injuring dozens others and damaging over a hundred buildings. 

Hamas official says delegation to respond to Gaza truce plan in Egypt Monday

A senior Hamas official told AFP on April 28 that the group would deliver its response to Israel’s latest counterproposal for a Gaza ceasefire on April 29 in Egypt. “A Hamas delegation headed by Khalil al-Hayya will arrive in Egypt tomorrow… and deliver the movement’s response” to the Israeli proposal during a meeting with Egyptian intelligence officials, said the official who declined to be named.

IPL-17: CSK vs SRH | Ruturaj, Mitchell and Deshpande sizzle as CSK trounces SRH

Ruturaj Gaikwad might have missed out on a well-deserved second consecutive ton, but the Chennai Super Kings skipper regaled the sell-out crowd with a scintillating 98 (54b, 10×4, 3×6) to set up a commanding 78-run win for his side over Sunrisers Hyderabad at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium here on Sunday. 

New Delhi:

In the backdrop of the nearly-four-year border row with China in eastern Ladakh, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said the “tension” seen during this period has “not served either of us well”.

He also asserted that India remains committed to finding a “fair and reasonable outcome” but one that is respectful of agreements and recognises the Line of Actual Control.

During a panel discussion at an event held late on Monday evening, the minister said India “never closed doors to talking to Pakistan” but the terrorism issue should be “fair, square at the centre of the conversation”.

Mr Jaishankar, who recently returned from an official visit to South Korea and Japan, shared his thoughts on a range of issues, from the changing nature of diplomacy to the evolving world order, during the ‘Express Adda’ in New Delhi.

Later, he also took questions from a section of the audience that included diplomats, businessmen, academics, entrepreneurs, journalists and foreign policy enthusiasts.

Asked about his views on “offers made from the Chinese side in the past” to resolve the border issue, and whether there was any scenario where he could think that this could actually be resolved, the minister said, “Any country involved in a boundary dispute negotiating, it has to believe … there has to be a solution.”

Questioned on if the current dispensation will get “more empowered with more seats in (Parliament) to talk on the issue”, the Union minister interjected and said, “To me, the territory of India and the fairness of a boundary solution has nothing to do with how many seats … Either it’s a good deal or not a good deal. The issue today is not whether you have a political majority or not. It is whether you have a fair deal on the table that is the issue.”

Mr Jaishankar, a former foreign secretary, also responded to a query from an audience member on the India-China relationship.

“I think it is in our common interest that we should not have that many forces on the Line of Actual Control. I think it is in our common interest that we should observe the agreements that we have signed. And, I believe that it is not just in common interest, I believe it is in China’s interest as well. This tension that we have seen for the last four years has not served either of us well,” he said.

“So, the sooner we resolve it, I genuinely believe it is good for both of us. I am still very much committed to finding a fair, reasonable outcome. But one which is respectful of agreements recognises the Line of Actual Control and doesn’t seek to change the status quo. That, I think, will be good for both of us,” the minister added.

The eastern Ladakh border standoff erupted on May 5, 2020, following a violent clash in the Pangong Lake area.

Ties between the two countries nose-dived significantly following the clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades.

India and China recently held a fresh round of high-level military talks to resolve the border row that witnessed both sides agreeing to maintain “peace and tranquillity” on the ground but there was no indication of any breakthrough.

Mr Jaishankar also took a question on India-Pakistan ties and if New Delhi would be open to a conversation if Islamabad reached out.

“We have never closed our doors on talking with Pakistan. The question is what to talk about … If some guy has that many terrorist camps … that should be the central part of the conversation,” he said.

When asked if there could be a conversation with the Pakistani military, he said, “It doesn’t work that way. It is not that we choose between this and that.”

“As I said, we have never closed our doors to talking to Pakistan … but the terrorism issue should be fair, square at the centre of the conversation. It is the major issue … I am not saying there are no other issues. But I am not going to duck that issue for the sake of talking,” the minister said.

One member of the audience also asked if India’s policy towards the US has had any impact on Russia’s policy towards China, to which Mr Jaishankar said that was a “correlation I wouldn’t agree with”.

“If Russia and China have become closer that is not an issue … that is not a doing of India. That may or may not be a consequence of the situation in which Russia finds itself in vis-a-vis the West … Our policy towards Russia has been very fair, very objective,” he added.

On the Myanmar issue, he said, “Frankly the developments … are worrying”.

“If there is no central authority and you have a very fractured system, then all set of other problems happen. It creates a fertile ground for a whole set of illegal activities, which then also impinge on our end…,” he added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

File photo: Pandas Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing move around in their enclosure at the National Zoo in Washington on one of the days they spent together, on May 6, 1975.
| Photo Credit: AP Photo

The story so far: China may be renewing its panda diplomacy project as the country is planning to loan the San Diego Zoo a pair of giant pandas, The Associated Press reported on Thursday. The China Wildlife Conservation Authority has signed cooperation agreements with San Diego and Madrid, Spain for the same, and is also in talks with zoos in Washington D.C. and Vienna, Austria, the report added, quoting China’s Xinhua News Agency.

If permits are approved, the pandas could arrive at the San Diego Zoo by the end of summer, the zoo officials told AP.

What is panda diplomacy?

Giant pandas are native to central China, particularly the Yangtze River basin. The Chinese government gifts or loans these endemic pandas to other countries as a symbol of friendship or soft diplomacy, hence leading to the phrase “panda diplomacy”.

How did panda diplomacy become popular?

Although panda diplomacy essentially picked up in the mid-to-late 20th century, some experts believe that a version of it existed as early as during the Tang Dynasty that ruled between 7th and 10th century. Records from the dynasty suggest that it presented two bears (believed to be pandas back then) to the Japanese court during Empress Wu Zetian’s rule, The Guardian reported.

There are multiple records of China gifting or donating pandas to countries like the U.S., the U.K., France, and Japan, but 1972 is often believed to be the start of modern panda diplomacy when, under Mao Zedong’s rule, Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai gifted to giant pandas to America following U.S. President Richard Nixon’s state visit. According to the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington D.C., also the home of the two giant pandas, the pair Ling-Ling (a female) and Hsing-Hsing (a male) arrived on April 16, 1972.

China stopped gifting pandas in early 1980s, and instead started loaning them at a fee of around $1 million per year. Conditions to lend pandas may also include other requirements, like building facilities for their care and agreements to return offspring to China.

More than just soft diplomacy?

In 2013, the University of Oxford conducted a study which concluded that deals under panda diplomacy could “herald environmental implications over the long term.” They cited the example of Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland which received its first pair of pandas in December 2011. This deal was overseen by China’s deputy premier while negotiating contracts valued at £2.6 billion across a range of sectors like petrochemical and renewable energy technology, salmon meat, and Land Rovers.

The study also noted that panda deals with Canada, France, and Australia coincided with these countries’ uranium deals and contracts with China.

What next?

In November 2023, after Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden met for the first time in a year, Mr. Xi hinted that his country could start sending pandas to the U.S. again.

“We’re very excited and hopeful,” Megan Owen, member of San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance and vice president of Wildlife Conservation Science, told AP. “They’ve expressed a tremendous amount of enthusiasm to re-initiate panda cooperation starting with the San Diego Zoo.”