Politics

Jaishankar Declares China-India Relations Poor, Rules Out Third-Party Mediation

In an interview with media in Tokyo on the fringes of the Quad foreign ministers’ meeting, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar stated that the bilateral ties between China and India are now “not good, not normal.” “Right present, there is a bad and abnormal relationship with China. As neighbors, we wish for a better relationship, but it can only be possible if they honor previous agreements and the LAC, according to Jaishankar. The minister stated, “We have opinions about China based on our experience.”

Referring to the Galwan Valley clashes that claimed the lives of 20 Indian soldiers and an undetermined number of Chinese soldiers on June 15, 2020, Jaishankar said, “Our relations with China are not doing very well, the main reason for that is that in 2020, during the COVID, China brought very large forces to the border areas between India and China in violation of agreements that we had with China and that created tensions which led to a clash, people died on both sides.”

He remarked, “The issue hasn’t been fully resolved, so the consequences of that continue.” He disregarded the possibility of a third party intervening in the border dispute between China and India, stating that the two neighbors should resolve their differences amicably. “We are not seeking assistance from other nations to resolve the underlying dispute between China and India,” Jaishankar declared. We have a dispute, or even a dilemma, between China and India.I believe we should discuss it and figure something out together as a pair,” he remarked.

Given the size of our two nations and the effect our relationship has on the rest of the world, it seems to reason that other nations would be interested in the situation. But we are not going to other nations to resolve what is actually a problem between us,” he stated, referring to his two meetings this month with Wang Yi, the foreign minister of China.

Wang and Jaishankar got together last week in the capital of Laos to take part in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit. After the military stalemate in eastern Ladakh in May 2020, they decided during their conference that it was necessary to provide clear instructions in order to finish the disengagement process. India has consistently argued that normal relations with China are contingent upon peace prevailing in the border regions.

Jaishankar made his comments in the midst of the protracted border dispute in eastern Ladakh, which in May celebrated its fifth year. On the fringes of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting, Jaishankar and Wang met on July 4 in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. Despite their disengagement from some locations of contention, the Indian and Chinese forces have been engaged in a standoff since May 2020 and have not yet reached a complete resolution of the border dispute.

Following the violent confrontation in the Galwan Valley in June 2020—the most significant military conflict between the two sides in decades—the relationship between the two countries took a heavy hit. In an attempt to break the impasse, the two sides have had 21 rounds of talks at the level of the Corps Commander. India has been exerting pressure on the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to withdraw from the Demchok and Depsang regions.

Also Read: PM Modi Meets West Bengal BJP MPs, Discusses Development and Party’s Future in the State

In February, the parties convened their final round of high-level military negotiations. At the twenty-first session of negotiations, neither party showed any signs of progress, but they did promise to keep “peace and tranquillity” in the area and keep in touch going forward.