Blitz Bureau
INDIA-China relations depends on mutual sensitivity, respect, and interests, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar has said. “India-China relations cannot be normal in the absence of peace and tranquillity in the border areas. Restoration of peace and tranquillity would be the basis for the rest of the relationship to move forward,” he said while making a statement in the Lok Sabha on December 3. He stressed that sustained efforts at both diplomatic and military levels remain pivotal in managing the challenges along the LAC and fostering a stable bilateral relationship.
He said that India-China ties that had been “abnormal since 2020” are moving in the direction of “some improvement” following several highlevel engagements, including the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit on October 23.
He provided an extensive update on recent developments in India-China relations, particularly the border areas, highlighting the diplomatic and military measures taken to restore peace and tranquillity along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
“Our ties have been abnormal since 2020, when peace and tranquillity in the border areas were disturbed. Recent developments reflecting our continuous diplomatic engagement have set our ties in the direction of some improvement,” he said.
“We are clear that the maintenance of peace and tranquillity in border areas is a prerequisite for the development of our ties. In the coming days, we will be discussing both de-escalation as well as effective management of our activities in the border areas. The conclusion of the disengagement phase now allows us to consider other aspects of our bilateral engagement in a calibrated manner, keeping our national security interests first and foremost. In my recent meeting with Foreign Minister Wang Yi, we reached an understanding that the special representatives and the Foreign Secretary level mechanisms will be convening soon,” he stated.
The meeting between PM Modi and Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the 16th BRICS Summit was the first between the two countries at delegation level in nearly five years and came close on the heels of the disengagement and patrolling agreement and the resolution of issues that had arisen in the India-China border areas in 2020.
He mentioned that the October 21 agreement is the latest in the series of an understanding in regard to the resolution of the situation at various friction points in eastern Ladakh in the aftermath of the events in May-June 2020 and the initial disengagement in Galwan Valley in July 2020.
