The ties between India and China have come under “severe stress” and the agreements inked by both sides over the last few years must be respected “scrupulously” in their “entirety” to restore normalcy in relations, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Saturday in the midst of the eastern Ladakh border row.
The external affairs minister, delivering the Sardar Patel Memorial lecture, also made it clear that any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) is “unacceptable” to India.
During the lecture aired on All India Radio, Jaishankar also referred to cross-border terrorism and said India has to be uncompromising in combating it.
“As far as China is concerned, ties were stable for three decades as the two nations addressed inherited challenges and new circumstances
“Peace and tranquillity in the border areas provided the basis for expanded cooperation in other domains. But as the pandemic unfolded, the relationship has come under severe stress,” the minister said.
“To restore normalcy, agreements between the two countries must be respected scrupulously in their entirety. Where the Line of Actual Control is concerned, any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo is unacceptable,” he added.
“The relationship cannot be immune to changes in the assumptions that underpinned it,” he said.
India has been maintaining that the agreements inked between the two countries since 1993 for management of the frontier must be respected and effectively implemented, saying peace and tranquility along the LAC is the basis for the overall development of the ties.
“Large civilisational states re-emerging in close proximity will not have naturally easy ties.
“Their interests are best served by a sustained engagement based on mutual respect and mutual sensitivity,” he said.
India and China are locked in an over five-month-long bitter border standoff in eastern Ladakh that has significantly strained their ties. Both sides held a series of diplomatic and military talks to resolve the row. However, no breakthrough has been achieved to end the standoff.
Talking about the strategy on national security, Jaishankar said advocating sweeping solutions without laying the groundwork may be dramatic politics, and mentioned about creation of border infrastructure along the northern border.
Breaking down silos and ensuring a more integrated governance process is just as important to performance. It has been a major priority in the last six years, especially in national security, he said.