New York: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar admitted in New York that India has a difficult history with China due to topsy-turvy ties between the two Asian neighbours. According to him, intermittent clashes between forces of the two countries soured sino-Indian relationship but recent disengagement came good for both neighbours.
During a talk at the Asia Society Policy Institute, S Jaishankar said, "We have a difficult history with China... Despite the explicit agreements we had with China, we saw in the middle of covid that the Chinese moved large number of forces in violation of these agreements to the line of actual control (LAC). It was likely a mishap would happen, and it did. So, there was a clash, and several troops died on either side. That in a sense, overshadowed the relationship."
He added, "When I said 75% of it has been sorted out, it's only of the disengagement. So, that's one part of the problem... So we've been able to sort out much of the disengagement in the friction points, but some of the patrolling issues need to be resolved... The next step will be de-escalation..."
China announced on September 13 that it has disengaged its troops from four locations in eastern Ladakh, including the Galwan Valley. The spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Mao Ning, has said that the border situation between India and China was “generally stable and under control.” This significant announcement comes after a meeting in Russia, on the sidelines of a conclave of national security advisors from BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), where both countries agreed to work together to create favourable conditions for improving bilateral relations. (With agency inputs)
