External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said on Friday that violent clashes along the India-China border in June had a very deep public and political impact and severely disrupted relations. On June 15, 20 soldiers of the Indian Army were martyred in violent clashes in the Galvan Valley of eastern Ladakh. After which the tension between the two countries increased greatly.
In a virtual program of the Asia Society on Friday, the foreign minister said, “Since 1993, there have been several agreements between the two countries which have prepared the framework for peace and stability.”
“It is not our position that we should solve the boundary question. We understand that it is a very complicated and difficult issue. There have been many negotiations at different levels…That is a very high bar for a relationship,” Jaishankar said. “I am talking about a much more basic bar which is that there must be peace and tranquillity along the LAC in the border areas and that has been the case since the late 1980s,” he added.
“Now, if peace and tranquillity is deeply disturbed, then obviously there will be an impact on the relationship and that is what we are seeing,” he said referring to the border situation in eastern Ladakh. Jaishankar said both China and India are rising and assuming “bigger” role in the world, but the “big question” is how the two countries find an “equilibrium”.
S Jaishankar said that after 2008 the world is once again facing the global financial crisis. He said about the upliftment of Africa, the contribution of Africa is in our strategic interest. If Africa becomes one of the poles of global politics, it is better for us.
