New Delhi, Sept. 1 -- Former Indian diplomat Veena Sikri has emphasised that peace and tranquillity along the India-China border remain fundamental to any meaningful progress in bilateral relations between the two nations, asserting that the trust deficit created by the 2020 Galwan incident has cast a long shadow over the diplomatic engagement.

Speaking to ANI on Sunday, Sikri noted that unless there is concrete progress in restoring stability at the border, other aspects of the bilateral relationship, including trade, regional cooperation, and people-to-people ties, cannot move forward.

"After 2020, when the Galwan incident took place, that was a big break in the trust factor between India and China, because China, by the action they t...