India-China Should Find A Way To Accommodate Each Other, Says EAM S Jaishankar

Jaishankar made the comments while answering a question on the rise of China and India amidst their border standoff.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar with Professor Arvind Panagariya at an interactive discussion at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia in New York (Source: PTI)

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Jaishankar, who arrived in New York to attend the UN General Assembly meeting, on Wednesday said that it is in the common interest of India and China to figure out how to accommodate each other because if they failed to do so, it would affect the rise of Asia. Jaishankar made the comments while answering to a question on the rise of China and India amidst their border standoff during his interaction with the audience at Columbia University.

"In our times, the biggest change we have seen in the world is the rise of China," he said, adding that China has risen faster than India, (and) more dramatically in the same time span.

"The issue for us today is how the two rising powers, in absolute proximity to each other, find a modus vivendi in a dynamic situation," he said.

"It is in our mutual interest that we find a way of accommodating each other," he said, adding that the rise of Asia is contingent on the biggest economies of Asia getting along with each.

Answering to a question about whether China can open a consulate in Chennai, the minister said, "at this point of time, India's relations with China is not normal." 

His comments came seven days after Indian and Chinese armed forces carried out a joint verification of the disengagement process at Patrolling Point (PP) 15 in eastern Ladakh. 

According to PTI, the two sides disengaged as per the plan which also entailed a joint verification of the entire process.

The disengagement is likely to set the stage for further negotiations on resolving the more crucial face-offs at the strategically-located Depsang Plains and Demchok.

India and China have been locked in standoff at the eastern Ladakh border since May 5, 2020, after a violent clash in the Pangong lake areas.

(With PTI Inputs)