The Foreign Ministry again issued a loud and clear message to China today
New Delhi:
Foreign Minister S Jaishankar has said that he would not wish to “predict” the outcome of the ongoing discussions between India and China regarding the border dispute in Ladakh. “The discussions continue. It is a work in progress and the first rule of my business is: do not predict what is still happening,” the minister said at the Bloomberg India Economic Forum a day after the seventh round of commanders. -level speeches.
When pressed to respond on the matter, the minister said: “What is happening is something confidential between us and China and we will see how it unfolds.”
A resolution to the situation in Ladakh, where India has been pushing for total disconnection, reduction and restoration of the status quo ante in all areas of eastern Ladakh before April, has proven elusive.
China not only stopped the disengagement process, begun after the National Security Adviser-level talks, halfway through, but also took provocative actions to change the status quo on the ground through further transgressions.
Not just the border area, the Chinese government had also objected to the opening of a series of bridges in Ladakh.
Today, the Foreign Ministry once again delivered a loud and clear message to China.
“The Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh have been, are and will continue to be an integral part of India. China does not have a locus standi to comment on the internal affairs of India. We hope that countries do not comment on the matters. Indian inmates, as much as they expect the same from others, “the ministry said.
Last month, following Beijing’s assertion of its position on the Royal Line of Control or LAC, India said it comprehensively rejects Chinese claims about its location in Ladakh. The 1959 claim made by Beijing was not mutually agreed upon, India reminded China.
Different perceptions of LAC were at the bottom of repeated outbursts at the border where “Chinese and Indian perceptions of LAC overlap,” Union Minister Rajnath Singh told Lok Sabha last month.
Today, Mr. Jaishankar said that the relationship between India and China had improved following the signing of a series of agreements since 1993 on the maintenance of peace and tranquility along the border.
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