EAM Jaishankar says, India-China relationship depends on ‘state of border’

According to Union Minister for External Affairs S. Jaishankar, the state of the border will decide how well relations between India and China are.

 

In light of the ongoing military standoff between the two nations over a variety of controversial topics in eastern Ladakh, Jaishankar issued a statement to China in which he stated, ‘Sovereignty and territorial integrity will have to be respected. Initiatives that impact the region must be consultative, not unilateral. Connectivity, in particular, should be transparent, viable and market-based.’

 

Speaking during the opening of the Asia Society Policy Institute was Jaishankar. He claimed that India and China’s relationship will decide a lot of Asia’s future and that the region lacks any kind of agreed-upon architecture.

 

‘For ties to return to a positive trajectory and remain sustainable, they must be based on the three mutuals: mutual sensitivity, mutual respect and mutual interest,’ he said. ‘Their current status is, of course, well known to all of you. I can only reiterate that the state of the border will determine the state of the relationship,’ he added.

 

At a number of flashpoints in eastern Ladakh, Indian and Chinese forces have been locked in a standoff for more than two years. High-level military talks resulted in the two sides detach in a number of regional areas, but the impasse continues to exist without any significant progress. A narrow ‘Asian chauvinism,’ according to Jaishankar, is really harmful to the interests of the continent as a whole.