External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday said efforts were on to resolve the boundary issues between India and China through discussions but asserted that India will not “countenance” any unilateral attempt to change the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
Jaishankar was responding to queries with regard to former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi’s tweet claiming that there was “increasing Chinese infiltration” into Indian territory. “As to what has happened in the last two years, we have been very clear and very effective in ensuring that no attempt to change the status quo unilaterally on the Line of Actual Control will be countenanced by us,” Jaishankar said.
Giving it back to Rahul, he said the boundary issue was a legacy of the past and referred to Chinese occupying large parts of India, including Ladakh, in 1962. .
“I did not see anything particularly new in what his tweet said, because you all know that a large part of the problem we have on the boundary is because in 1962, the Chinese came and occupied large areas, including Ladakh.”
“Many of these are strategic areas which obviously create challenges for our border forces,” Jaishankar added.
He said that discussions were going on between the two sides involving military commanders and also diplomats to resolve the current impasses on the LAC.