Canberra (Australia): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday that even though Indian and Chinese troops have been withdrawn in eastern Ladakh, peace is still awaited on the border. He said the disengagement agreement would be implemented to “everybody's satisfaction” in the coming days. Jaishankar made the comments while interacting with Justin Bassi, executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), at the inaugural session of a “think tank” here.
Jaishankar was asked a question about India-China relations in the coming days. India on October 21 announced that it has reached an agreement with China on patrolling along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, ending the four-year-long military standoff between the two armies. Jaishankar said in Canberra on Tuesday, “At present, the tension is awaited, which is due to the mobilization of security forces on the LAC.” The External Affairs Minister said that before 2020, the amount of deployment along the LAC from both the countries was Today there is a larger military deployment than that, “so the only path before us is dialogue.”
Tension had increased between India and China since June 2020
Relations between the two countries had deteriorated significantly after the fierce clash in Galwan Valley in June 2020. Jaishankar said the priority has been to find ways to withdraw the troops. He said the emphasis has been on restoring normalcy as far as possible and restoring patrolling as before 2020. He expressed hope that now patrolling will start soon. He said the chapter on disengagement has been completed and its implementation will be “to everyone's satisfaction in the coming days.”
The External Affairs Minister said that during this period (post-2020), India-China relations were also “deeply affected”, as India believes that peace and stability in the border areas is a prerequisite for the development of bilateral relations. Is. He also drew attention to the agreement reached between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in their first bilateral meeting in five years that the External Affairs Minister and the National Security Advisor will meet their counterparts and explore ways to normalize relations. (Language)
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