External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said here that after the clash in Galwan Valley in 2020, relations between India and China are not normal and it seems that this issue may drag on longer than expected. On a question about India-China relations in the Council on Foreign Relations, he said that if there is tension to this extent between the world’s two largest countries, then it will affect everyone. Jaishankar said that the specialty of the relationship with China is that they never tell you why they do this. So you’re often trying to figure it out and there’s always some ambiguity.
Situation with China is not normal – S Jaishankar
The Foreign Minister said, it is very difficult to try to be normal with a country which has broken agreements. So if you look at the last three years, this is not a normal situation. He said, contacts have been disrupted, journeys are not taking place. There is certainly a high level of military tension between us. This has also affected the perception of China in India. Jaishankar said, so I think there is an immediate issue there and it appears that this issue may drag on longer than expected. The External Affairs Minister outlined a historical perspective on relations between Delhi and Beijing and said that it has never been easy. He said, there was a war in 1962. After that military incidents happened. But after 1975 there was never any casualty in the fighting on the border, 1975 was the last time. He said India further normalized relations in 1988 when then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi visited China.
China keeps breaking agreements – Jaishankar
Jaishankar said that in 1993 and 1996, India made two agreements with China for border stability, which are disputed. He said, talks are going on on those issues. He said it was agreed that neither India nor China would amass troops along the Line of Actual Control and if either side brings more than a certain number of troops, it will inform the other side. The minister said, so the way it was presented, it was absolutely clear. Jaishankar said that after that many agreements were reached and it was a very unique situation in which soldiers from both sides in the border areas used to come out of their designated military bases, do their patrolling and return to their bases.
Jaishankar said that if there was a conflict between them, there were very clear rules about their conduct and the use of firearms was prohibited. So that was really the case until 2020. In 2020, when India was going through its strict Covid-19 lockdown, we saw that a large number of Chinese soldiers were moving towards the Line of Actual Control. He said, amidst all this, we had to increase our presence there and do counter-deployment, which we did and then we had a situation where we were naturally worried because the troops (of both the countries) had now come very close.
Had warned China – Foreign Minister
Jaishankar said that we warned the Chinese that such a situation could create problems and then the same thing happened in mid-June 2020. Jaishankar said that the Chinese side gave different explanations at different times but none of them are really valid. The minister said, we have been partially successful. Jaishankar said, now what he has done has, in a way, completely affected the relationship because it is very difficult to try to be normal with a country which has broken agreements.