As reported by Reuters, the Indian army said that at least 20 of its soldiers had been killed in clashes with Chinese troops at a disputed border site between the two countries on Monday.

“Indonesia closely follows any developments regarding the issue, and of course [we] hope that the relevant parties can find ways to reduce tension,” Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said in a press briefing on Wednesday.

As international communities are focusing on dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, Faizasyah said “any kind of development that could potentially disrupt [international] stability would further disrupt the global collective efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic”.

New Delhi and Beijing had traded accusations over which was to blame for the fight in the Ladakh region of the western Himalayas before they agreed to deescalate the situation at their border as soon as possible, Reuters reported.

India and China are both important economic partners for Indonesia. According to data from the Indian government, Indonesia has emerged as the second-largest trading partner for India in the ASEAN region. Bilateral trade increased from US$4.3 billion in the period of 2005 to 2006 to $21 billion in 2018 to 2019.

India is the second-largest buyer of coal and crude palm oil from Indonesia and imports minerals, rubber, pulp and paper and hydrocarbons reserves.

Meanwhile, China remains Indonesia’s largest trading partner, with total trade value of $72.8 billion in 2019, Indonesian Trade Ministry data said.

Concerns have been raised as to how the conflict would impact India’s participation in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a proposed free trade agreement in the Indo-Pacific region between the 10 member states of ASEAN and five of ASEAN’s free trade agreement (FTA) partners, namely Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea. 

India, which is also ASEAN’s FTA partner, opted out of the RCEP in November last year but the remaining countries have since tried to sway India back. 

“Thus far, in every discussion about the RCEP, we know that the remaining countries are still trying to invite India back. There has been no conclusive result yet as negotiations, including the legal drafting of the partnership, will be concluded later this year,” Faizasyah said.

China and India have agreed to impartially deal with the serious clash between their troops at Galwan Valley and deescalate tension in the border area as soon as possible, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Wednesday, as reported by China Daily.

In a telephone conversation with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Wang said that India should thoroughly investigate the incident and punish those responsible for the conflict.

Jaishankar underlined that this unprecedented development will have a serious impact on the bilateral relationship and stressed that the need of the hour was for the Chinese side to reassess its actions and take corrective steps, the Statesman reported.

He further noted that the two sides should scrupulously and sincerely implement the understanding reached by senior commanders on June 6.

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