Looking back at the “difficult history” with China, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar has clarified that he meant only the “disengagement” of troops in eastern Ladakh has been sorted when he mentioned that 75 per cent progress on border dispute talks with Beijing.
Addressing the Asia Society at the Asia Society Policy Institute on Tuesday (local time), Jaishankar highlighted how China violated the previous agreements during the Covid pandemic, by increasing troop deployment at the border, which eventually resulted in clashes causing casualties on both sides. This incident, according to the Minister, has overshadowed the bilateral relationship.
“We have a difficult history with China…Despite the explicit agreements we had with China, we saw in the middle of Covid that the Chinese moved a large number of forces in violation of these agreements to the line of actual control (LAC). It was likely a mishap would happen, and it did. So, there was a clash, and a number of troops died on either side. That, in a sense, overshadowed the relationship,” news agency ANI quoted the Minister as saying.
“When I said 75 per cent of it has been sorted out, it’s only of the disengagement. So, that’s one part of the problem,” he added.
While Jaishankar acknowledged that much of the disengagement at friction points has been managed, the Minister emphasised that challenges persist, particularly concerning patrolling rights along the border. He also stressed the importance of ‘de-escalation’ as the next step in improving relations with China. “So we’ve been able to sort out much of the disengagement in the friction points, but some of the patrolling issues need to be resolved…The next step will be de-escalation,” he added.
The Foreign Minister also talked about how India’s relationship with the Gulf nations has transformed significantly over the past decade. He said that the evolving partnership has been exemplified by the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), which aims to connect the Atlantic to India, enhancing trade and connectivity across regions.
“India’s ties with the Gulf have dramatically changed in the last decade… Most notably the IMEC, the India – Middle East – Europe economic corridor. It connects the Atlantic to India, and we are in turn trying to also build connectivity to the Pacific through Myanmar, which is called the Trilateral Highway,” the Foreign Minister said.