Dr. S Jaishankar said that the state of the border with China cannot be separated from the state of the relationship.
New Delhi:
Before his long-awaited talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Moscow, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said on Monday that the state of the border with China cannot be disassociated from the state of the general relationship with the neighboring country.
The foreign minister also described the situation in eastern Ladakh as “very serious” and said it calls for “a very, very deep conversation” between the two sides at the political level.
Mr. Jaishankar spoke in an interactive session of The Indian Express newspaper.
“The state of the border cannot be disassociated from the state of the relationship. I wrote it before that unfortunate incident in Galwan happened,” Jaishankar said, referring to his recently published book “The India Way.”
Tensions multiplied along the Royal Line of Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh after the Galwan Valley clashes on June 15 in which 20 members of the Indian army were killed in the line of duty. The Chinese side also suffered casualties, but has not yet released details. According to a US intelligence report, the death toll on the Chinese side was 35.
“If peace and tranquility on the border are not a fact, then it cannot be that the rest of the relationship continues on the same basis, because clearly peace and tranquility are the basis of the relationship,” said the minister of External relationships.
Mr. Jaishankar will meet with Wang Yi on September 10 in Moscow on the sidelines of the eight-nation meeting of the foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
“Exactly what I’ll tell you, obviously I’m not going to tell you,” Jaishankar said when asked what message he would deliver to his Chinese counterpart.
However, he said that the general principle around which his position would be built would be on the importance of maintaining peace and tranquility along the border for the general development of ties, which has been reflected in the last 30 years of relationship.
The minister also spoke about the number of pacts between the two countries on border management since 1993, saying that they clearly stipulate keeping forces to a minimum along the border and largely shaped the behavior of the armed forces.
“If they are not observed, then very, very important questions arise … I note that this very serious situation has been going on since the beginning of May, this requires a very, very deep conversation between the two parties at the political level.” “he added.
Jaishankar said there are also problems from history. “We have leftover problems from history that continue to be an excess in the relationship,” he said, calling the current confrontation “of a very different order.”
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