NEW DELHI: The behavior of Chinese troops on the Ladakh border is a sharp change from the course of the more than 30-year relationship, and has left the relationship between India and China “deeply disturbed, said Foreign Minister S Jaishankar.
The violent clashes have also had a very profound public and political impact, the minister said, while speaking at a virtual event organized by the Asia Society.
Indian and Chinese troops clashed in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley on June 15, leaving 20 Indian soldiers dead. China has not officially recognized the number of victims on its side.
Jaishankar said that India has built the relationship with China for the past 30 years on the basis of peace and tranquility along the Royal Line of Control.
He said that there are multiple agreements, starting in 1993, that created the framework for peace and tranquility, limited the military forces that reached the border areas and set a guideline on how to handle the border and how border troops behave when approach. Each other.
“So, from the conceptual level to the behavioral level, there was a kind of complete framework. Now, what we saw this year was a deviation from this whole series of agreements. The concentration of a large number of Chinese forces on the border was clearly contrary to all this, “said Jaishankar.
“Today there are a lot of troops with weapons concentrated in that segment of the border and obviously that is a very critical security challenge that we face,” he said.
He attributed the Galwan clashes to a departure from the established model, and said he has found no explanation for the violent behavior of Chinese troops.
“To underline the enormity of that, it was the first military casualty that we had after 1975. So what it has done is, obviously, it has had a very deep public impact, a very important political impact and it has left the relationship deeply disturbed.” . Jaishankar said.
(With contributions from the agency)
.
