External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar spoke to the Chinese Foreign Minister on important issues

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday, after discussions with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, said that the current situation between India and China over eastern Ladakh is a "work in progress" though its pace is slower than the desired level. He said relations between India and China are not "normal" in view of the heavy deployment of troops from both sides and a peaceful atmosphere will need to be created in the border areas to restore normal relations.

Jaishankar said this while talking to reporters after a nearly three-hour-long discussion with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Wang and Jaishankar underlined that talks have been held between the two countries at the level of senior military commander on the issue of the eastern Ladakh standoff and progress has been recorded on several areas of conflict with regard to the withdrawal.

"This needs to be taken forward as the completion of the withdrawal process is essential for talks on this," the External Affairs Minister said. (Work in Progress). Naturally it is progressing at a slower pace than the desired level," he said, adding that his talks with the External Affairs Minister were focused on speeding up the process.