With most of the stand-offs ending at the border in Ladakh after two years, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said India strives to have a relationship with China that is built on mutual sensitivity, respect and interest.
His remarks late Wednesday in the US capital came on a day when Chinese envoy to New Delhi Sun Weidong said the situation at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) is moving towards being “normalised.”
He also called for India and China to work more closely together to resolve differences, in a speech marking the 73rd anniversary of the People’s Republic of China.
The Chinese Ambassador’s statement comes weeks after the two sides agreed to disengage at Patrolling Point (PP) 15 at the LAC, one of several “friction points.” PNS/Agencies
In a virtual address, the Chinese ambassador said in New Delhi, “The current border situation is overall stable. The phase of emergency response since the Galwan Valley incident has basically come to an end, and the border situation is now switching to normalised management and control.” China was prepared to seek a solution to the LAC situation through further dialogue and consultation, but that he hoped India would address China’s “core interests” that included the Taiwan question and Xizang (Tibet) related issues, he said.
“Meanwhile, Jaishankar said betterment and strengthening of the Indo-Pacific is a shared objective of New Delhi and Washington, amid Beijing's growing military presence in the strategic region.
“We continue to strive for a relationship with China, but one that is built on mutual sensitivity, mutual respect and mutual interest,” Jaishankar told a group of Indian reporters in Washington as he concluded his four-day visit to the city.
Responding to a question on how India and the US are planning to handle a belligerent China, he said the two countries have a shared objective of betterment and strengthening of the Indo-Pacific.
“Where Indian and US interests converge, and they do, I think, is on the stability and the security, the progress, the prosperity, the development of the Indo Pacific. Because you have seen, even in the case of Ukraine, a war fought a great distance away, has the potential, has the capability of actually creating turbulence across the world in terms of implications for the daily lives of people,” he said.
Jaishankar said the world has changed and everyone appreciates that no single country by itself can shoulder the responsibilities or the burdens of international peace and common good.
