MUMBAI: India will focus on finding solutions to the border issues with China that has long strained ties between the neighboring countries, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said on Tuesday after assuming charge for a second straight term.
India and China share a 3,800 km (2,400 mile) border — much of it poorly demarcated — over which the nuclear-armed nations also fought a war in 1962.
They have engaged in a military standoff since July 2020 when at least 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese troops were killed in the worst clashes in five decades.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was sworn in on Sunday for a record-equalling third term at a grand ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the president’s palace in New Delhi, attended by leaders of seven regional countries, underlining the government’s “neighborhood first” policy.
But relations and problems with China and Pakistan were different, Jaishankar told reporters.
“With regards to China there are still some issues at the border and our focus will be on how to solve them,” he said.
India and Pakistan, which is also nuclear-armed, have fought three wars, including two over control of the disputed Kashmir region in the Himalayas.
Relations between them have worsened since a 2019 suicide bombing of an Indian military convoy in Kashmir was traced to Pakistan-based militants, leading New Delhi to carry out an airstrike on what it said was a militant base in Pakistan. Pakistan rejects it harbors militants or their bases.
On Monday, leaders of the two countries engaged in diplomacy via X.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his elder brother and former prime minister Nawaz congratulated Modi, in what was Pakistan’s first response to the election results from across the border.
“With Pakistan, we would want to find a solution to the issue of years-old cross-border terrorism. That cannot be the policy of a good neighbor,” Jaishankar said.
Pakistan denies state complicity in terror attacks in India.
India says will focus on solving border issues with China, ‘terrorism’ with Pakistan
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India says will focus on solving border issues with China, ‘terrorism’ with Pakistan
- India and China share a 3,800 km (2,400 mile) border, have engaged in a military standoff since July 2020
- India and Pakistan have fought three wars, including two over control of disputed Kashmir region
Pakistan’s Sharif hails Trump as ‘man of peace’ at inaugural Gaza board meeting
- Shehbaz Sharif says calls for end to Israeli ceasefire violations in Gaza and ‘credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination’
- Islamabad hopes involvement in Gaza peace board will allow it to shape post-war arrangements while protecting Palestinian rights
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday hailed President Donald Trump as a “man of peace” as he attended an inaugural meeting of the Gaza Board of Peace in Washington.
The board, formed under a UN Security Council resolution following a fragile October 2025 ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, is intended to oversee international stabilization and rebuilding efforts in Gaza after Israeli war.
Pakistan’s premier called for an end to ceasefire violations by Israel to achieve long-lasting peace and to advance reconstruction efforts in Gaza, praising Trump for his efforts to bring about peace in various parts of the world.
“Your timely and very effective intervention to achieve ceasefire between India and Pakistan potentially averted loss of tens of millions of people,” Sharif said, addressing Trump at the meeting.
“You have truly proved to be a man of peace and let me say Mr. president you are truly savior of South Asia.”
In the past, Sharif has gained favor with Trump for publicly praising him for helping broker a ceasefire between Pakistan and India following their intense, four-day military conflict in May, while Islamabad also formally endorsed the US president for a Nobel Peace Prize.
Speaking at the meeting, the Pakistan premier said the people of Palestine must exercise “full control of their land and future” in line with the UN Security Council’s resolutions.
“The people of Palestine have long endured illegal occupation and immense suffering. And to achieve long lasting peace, it is very important that ceasefire violations must end to preserve lives and advance reconstruction efforts,” he said.
“The people of Palestine must exercise full control of the land and their future, in line with UN Security Council resolutions. Mr. president, we must work together toward a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination through the establishment of an independent, sovereign and contiguous State of Palestine, in line with the relevant resolutions.”
Earlier, Trump also spoke at the gathering and praised Sharif as well as Pakistan’s Chief of Defense Forces Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir.
Pakistan formally joined the Board of Peace last month after Sharif signed its charter alongside other world leaders in Davos. The forum includes an eight-nation Muslim bloc comprising Türkiye, Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Islamabad hopes involvement in the forum will allow it to shape post-war governance arrangements while protecting Palestinian political rights.
Separately, Sharif met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who appreciated Pakistan’s ongoing support of Trump’s peace plan for Gaza and for joining the Board of Peace.
“In our meeting, we discussed the importance of our strategic relationship on critical minerals development and counterterrorism,” Rubio said on X.
Sharif also held informal meetings in Washington with global leaders who arrived to attend the inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace.
The prime minister met informally with the Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto.
“Important global and regional matters were discussed during the meetings,” Sharif’s office said.
