Border Dispute

India and China should put the boundary issue in the proper place in bilateral relations and work together to bring the situation at their borders "under normalised management" as soon as possible, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang conveyed to his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar, the foreign ministry said here on Friday. Qin's first in-person meeting with Jaishankar on Thursday came on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers conclave in New Delhi amid the over 34-month-long border row in eastern Ladakh. Qin took charge as Chinese foreign minister in December, succeeding Wang Yi. India has been maintaining that its ties with China cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas. Jaishankar conveyed to Qin that the state of India-China relations is "abnormal" as their talks focused on addressing the challenges in bilateral ties, especially that of peace and tranquillity in the border areas. "We also had a brief discussion on what was happening in the G20 framework. But

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday said his talks with his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang at their first meeting focused on addressing current challenges to the bilateral ties, especially peace and tranquillity in the border areas. The discussions on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers' meeting came amid the over 34-month-long border row in eastern Ladakh. It was the first meeting between Jaishankar and Qin after the later became the Chinese foreign minister in December. Qin arrived in Delhi on Thursday morning to attend the G20 meeting hosted by India under its presidency of the influential grouping. "Met Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang on sidelines of #G20FMM this afternoon. Our discussions were focused on addressing current challenges to the bilateral relationship, especially peace and tranquillity in the border areas," Jaishankar said on Twitter. "We also spoke about the G20 agenda," he said. India has been maintaining that its ties with China cannot be

At the centre of the dispute is a district on the border of the two states, Belagavi

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday told the Legislative Council said that the state's attempt to resolve the border dispute with Karnataka started with a "weak mindset" as the resolution tabled by first CM Yashwantrao Chavan demanding merger of Marathi-speaking villages from the neighbouring state did not specify the deadline for it. Shinde's statement appears to be in sync with the Bharatiya Janta Party's (BJP) stand, which has been blaming the previous state governments for failing to resolve that the border dispute with Karnataka in the last six decades. Speaking in the Upper House of the state legislature, CM Shinde said, "The first resolution in Maharashtra Assembly was tabled by the then chief minister Yashwantrao Chavan demanding that Belgaum (Belagavi), Karwar and other villages be merged with Maharashtra. In his resolution, Chavan did not specify the deadline to resolve the issue. Maharashtra's struggle for resolving the border dispute started with such a

Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Tuesday said the entire state was happy over the resolution passed by the state legislature on the border dispute, and he was sure that no land would be ceded to Karnataka. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde earlier in the day moved a resolution in both houses which said the state shall pursue legal remedies to incorporate in Maharashtra 865 Marathi-speaking villages in border areas which are presently part of Karnataka. "Entire Maharashtra has supported and expressed joy over the resolution brought by the Shinde-Fadnavis government," Bawankule told reporters. "I am confident that the government will not cede even an inch of land," he added. On Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray's demand that the disputed region in Karnataka be declared a Union Territory pending the case in the Supreme Court, Banwankule said opposition leaders knew very well that this was not feasible, and they should not do politics on the issue.

Maharashtra minister Shamburaj Desai on Friday said the state government will next week bring a resolution on the border dispute with Karnataka, which will be "10 times more effective" than the one passed by the neighbouring state. The Excise Minister said the resolution will be passed by the state legislature on Monday. Karnataka Legislative Assembly on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution on the border row with Maharashtra, resolving to protect the state's interests and not to cede an inch of land to its neighbour. The resolution which also condemned the border dispute "created" by Maharashtra and moved by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, was adopted by a voice vote. Talking to reporters at the legislature complex in Nagpur, Desai said, "The state government will bring a detailed resolution on the Maharashtra-Karnataka border issue, which will be 10 times more effective than the one passed by Karnataka. It will be passed in the legislature on Monday." "I only want to say that

Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned for the fourth time on Thursday as the Opposition pressed for its demand for a discussion on the border issue with China. After the House reassembled at 4 pm following three adjournments, opposition members continued their protest when the House was taking up issues of urgent public importance. Earlier, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya made a statement on the COVID-19 situation and the steps being taken by the government. The opposition members kept raising slogans during the minister's statement. The protest continued when the House was taking up matters of urgent public importance. Kirit Solanki, who was chairing the proceedings, adjourned the House till 4.30 pm after opposition members refuge to accede to his request to allow smooth functioning of the proceedings. Opposition parties have been demanding a discussion on the India-China border tensions and the latest Chinese transgressions since the Winter Session started on December 7. Sev

The third round of regional committee-level border talks between Arunachal Pradesh and Assam succeeded in resolving certain issues along the interstate boundary, ministers of the two states said. Addressing a press meet on Wednesday, Assam Agriculture Minister Atul Bora and Arunachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein said a "threadbare discussion was held in a cordial atmosphere" to find a solution to disputes involving three districts along the boundary. Mein said the committee members had visited the disputed areas in Namsai and Lohit districts of Arunachal Pradesh and Tinsukia in Assam, and interacted with various stakeholders before attending the meetings. "We have come to the conclusion that there are no longer any issues in these areas," he said. Bora said the committee will submit the report of the meeting to the chief ministers of both the states, and they in turn will hand it over to the Centre. "People of both the states want to live in peace. It is usually some

The Karnataka-Maharashtra border region, which has been witnessing a series of agitations since the first day of legislature session here is now peaceful, police said on Wednesday. "There's absolutely peace in the border district of Belagavi. Vehicular movement between the two states is normal and there is nothing to worry," a senior police official told PTI. As a precautionary measure, barricades have been put up on the bridge connecting Belagavi in Karnataka with Maharashtra. Police personnel have also been deployed at the vaccine depot ground in Tilakwadi, where the Madhyavarti Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MMES) was planning to stage a demonstration on December 19. "The MMES movement has stopped but as a precaution we are deploying forces there," the official added. The MMES wanted the leaders from Maharashtra to attend their event aimed at building pressure on Karnataka government to merge Belagavi with Maharashtra. The district administration denied the leaders permission to

Amid the raging border dispute between Maharashtra and Karnataka, Nationalist Congress Party leader Jayant Patil has said Maharashtra should raise the height of the upstream dams to "rein in" the neighbouring state. The decades-old boundary dispute issue was raised in the legislatures of both the states on Tuesday. Speaking in the Maharashtra Assembly here on Tuesday, Patil said Karnataka was deliberately harassing Marathi-speaking people in its border areas. We should reply to what the Karnataka chief minister says in the same language. If they have so much attitude, then we will raise the height of dams on Koyna and Warna rivers and that of all the dams in Satara and Kolhapur districts. They (Karnataka leaders) would not be brought under control otherwise," the former Maharashtra water resources minister said. "If Karnataka holds us to ransom, then we have water, he added. The border issue dates back to 1957 after the reorganisation of states on linguistic lines. Maharashtra la

Opposition parties in Maharashtra on Tuesday targeted the Karnataka government in the state Assembly here over the alleged ill-treatment being meted out to Marathi-speaking people in the neighbouring southern state. Raising the issue in the Lower House, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Jayant Patil said a lathi was raised at his party colleague and legislator Hasan Mushrif on Monday who had gone to Belagavi to meet the Marathi-speaking people. Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar said the issue is very sensitive to everyone. Replying to the issue, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said for the first time the Centre has intervened which is a positive step. Speaker Rahul Narvekar said it has already been decided the matter will be discussed in detail and agreed to by the treasury and Opposition benches. The long-pending border dispute between the two states flared up again on Monday when members of Opposition parties- Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), Congress, and Nationalist Congr

Senior Congress leader Ashok Chavan on Monday claimed Maharashtra was being misled over the issue of Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai's 'fake' Twitter handle amid the boundary dispute between the two states. Talking to reporters in the Vidhan Bhavan complex here, Chavan asked why the Maharashtra government was silent in the matter and said it seemed the state government was helping Karnataka to brush aside the controversy over the issue of the 'fake' Twitter account from which "provocative comments" were made. Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde last week said tweets in the name of his Karnataka counterpart claiming some areas of Maharashtra were not actually posted by Bommai. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who last week met the chief ministers of Maharashtra and Karnataka to defuse the border tensions between the two states, had said fake tweets in the name of top leaders also escalated the issue. The dispute centres on Maharashtra's claims on Belagavi and the ...

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday said that on the one hand Prime Minister Narendra Modi mediates in the Russia-Ukraine war, while on the other he turns a blind eye to the simmering Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute, which is "not a sign of a good politician". In his weekly column 'Rokhthok' in the party mouthpiece Saamana, Raut also said that the border dispute between Maharashtra and Karnataka was a struggle for humanity, and not a fight between people and governments of the two states. Maharashtra has been long claiming Belagavi and surrounding border areas in north Karnataka as they have a sizable Marathi-speaking population. The decades-old border dispute resurfaced again after Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai recently claimed that some villages in Sangli district in Maharashtra have passed a resolution to become a part of the southern state owing to lack of basic facilities there. "The struggle of the Marathi-speaking population in Belagavi and nearby ..

Amid the raging border dispute with neighbouring Maharashtra and around five months to go for assembly elections in Karnataka, the winter session of the state legislature will begin at 'Suvarna Vidhana Soudha' in Belagavi on Monday. This will be the last session of the incumbent BJP government in the northern district headquarters town bordering Maharashtra. This session assumes importance for the Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai-led administration, as only the joint session and budget session will be left before elections are announced. The polls are likely to be held by April-May 2023. The 10-day session till December 30 is likely to be stormy as both the ruling and opposition sides are appeared to attack and counter each other on a host of issues. The opposition parties are likely to corner the government on issues like alleged corruption and scams in various departments, voter data theft scandal, the border dispute and its handling by the government, law and order situation wit

Maharashtra Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar on Saturday said that Karnataka and Maharashtra CMs' talks with Union Home Minister Amit Shah regarding the border issue should be made public

The ongoing Maharashtra-Karnataka row may have brought the border dispute between states under focus, but people living in 14 disputed villages along the Maharashtra-Telangana border appear to be unmoved by this debate as they are enjoying the benefits of schemes implemented by both neighbouring states. The residents of these villages say that they have no problem in going with any of the two states if the local government awards ownership of their farmlands to them. All these 14 villages - located in Jiwati taluka of Chandrapur district (according to Maharashtra map) - figure in the voters list of both the states and people there enjoy dual identity, entitling them to take benefits of all the basic facilities including political status from both Telangana and Maharashtra. Earlier Andhra Pradesh, and now Telangana (after division) claimed that these villages fall under their territory. However, the issue has remained unresolved so far. Waman Pawar, former sarpanch of Paramdoli gram

Reports that a pro-Marathi group had attacked a Bank of Karnataka vehicle in Belagavi is concocted, say police

Maharashtra has been politicising the border dispute for six decades, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said here on Wednesday

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday called for the de-escalation in tensions along the India-China border, days after troops of the two countries clashed in the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh, resulting in minor injuries to some soldiers on both sides. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said in Parliament on Tuesday that Chinese troops tried to "unilaterally" change the status quo along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Yangtse area of Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang sector on December 9, but the Indian Army compelled them to retreat by its "firm and resolute" response. When Stphane Dujarric, Spokesperson to the UN Secretary-General was asked to comment on this issue, he said: Yeah, we've seen these reports. We call for de-escalation and to ensure that the tensions along in that area do not grow. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin addressing a media briefing in Beijing on Tuesday said the two sides have maintained smooth communication on ...

After a clash between the Indian Army and Chinese PLA on 17,000-ft high peak in Arunachal Pradesh, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a high-level meeting with the NSA, Army chief and CDS