External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the recent disengagement between Indian and Chinese troops at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh was a “welcome step” that opened up the possibility for other similar measures to follow.
His remarks came just days after troops from the neighbouring nations completed disengagement at the two friction points of Demchok and Depsang, four years after continued tensions in the wake of the 2020 border skirmishes.
The disengagement involved the withdrawal of troops, tents, and temporary structures. Patrolling at Demchok began on November 1, while Indian troops also commenced verification patrolling in Depsang.
Addressing members of the Indian community at the University of Queensland in Brisbane on Sunday, Jaishankar said, “In terms of India and China, yes, we have made some progress. You know, our relations were very, very disturbed… We have made some progress in what we call disengagement, which is when troops were very close to each other, with the possibility that could lead to some untoward incident.”
“There are very large numbers of Chinese troops deployed along the LAC who were not there before 2020. And we, in turn, have counter-deployed. There are other aspects of the relationship which also got affected during this period. So clearly, we have to see after the disengagement, what is the direction we will go. But we do think the disengagement is a welcome step. It opens up the possibility that other steps could happen,” he added.
The Union Minister also said that the expectation following the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping last month would be a follow-up interaction between himself, the National Security Advisors and their counterparts from Beijing.
On October 21, India announced that it reached an agreement with China on patrolling along the LAC, marking a breakthrough in ending the over four-year-long military standoff, which began following the deadly clashes between the troops of both countries in June 2020 in Galwan Valley.
S JAISHANKAR ON GLOBAL CONFLICTS
During the interaction at the University of Queensland, the External Affairs Minister also spoke about the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and the war in the Middle East, reiterating that “we are trying to do something in both”.
On the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Jaishankar said India is making efforts to bring diplomacy back to the forefront, with Prime Minister Modi personally involved in meetings with leaders from the two warring nations.
Due to the conflict, there is a cost to the world every day, apart from the cost to Russia and Ukraine, he said, adding: “So, it is a situation, which does call for some degree of activity or proactive diplomacy. We are trying to do that.”
On the Middle East war, Jaishankar said the situation was very different.
“At the moment, the effort is more to prevent the conflict from spreading. And, here, one of the gaps is the inability of Iran and Israel to talk to each other directly. So different countries are trying to see if they can, you know, bridge that gap. We happen to be one of them,” he said, without elaborating.