“Indo-China Stand-Off Very Serious” – Foreign Minister

The Indo-China situation along the Line of Actual Control is very serious. Finding a long-lasting solution to it will require deep and meaningful political conversations between the two sides.  

This was suggested by Foreign Minister of India S Jaishankar on Monday while talking to The Indian Express. His comments and observations come just before he is scheduled to leave for Moscow to take part in Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's (SCO) foreign ministers' meeting slated to be held from September 9 to 11. He is likely to discuss the current border stand-off issue with China's Foreign Minister and State Councillor Wang Yi there.  

The seasoned diplomat, who has served as India's ambassador to both China and to the US in the past, highlighted the relationship of peace and tranquility on the borders with a nation's progress.

The IE report quoted the Minister as saying in this regard, "if peace and tranquillity on the border is not a given, then it cannot be that the rest of the relationship continues on the same basis."

As there was order and peace on the LAC in the last 30 years, Indo-China ties became stronger in other areas including geo-economics, he observed.

Jaishankar noted that India has several border management agreements with China that aim to keep minimum forces at the border. He added that it is very crucial to honour those agreements, as they determine how the troops behave, besides putting restraints on them.

Commenting on the future of India-China relationship, he said that both the Asian powers must complement each other, as their ability to find mutual accommodation will decide if this century belongs to Asia or not.