India-China Ties Under 'Severe Stress', Changing Status Quo Of LAC 'Unacceptable': EAM Jaishankar

The foreign minister said the relationship between New Delhi and Beijing ‘cannot be immune to changes in the assumptions that underpinned it’.

S Jaishankar

New Delhi: India-China ties are under “severe stress" and normalcy can be restored only if bilateral pacts on border management are respected in their entirety, Indian foreign minister S. Jaishankar said Saturday. “To restore normalcy, agreements between the two countries must be respected scrupulously in their entirety. Where the Line of Actual Control (LAC) is concerned, any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo is unacceptable," Jaishankar said. Also Read|Tamil Nadu Agriculture Minister R Doraikannu Passes Away At 72, Weeks After He Tested Positive For Covid Both India and China are trying to resolve the border stand-off along the Line of Actual Control, which began in May, but neither side has backed down. “As far as China is concerned, ties were stable for three decades as the two nations addressed inherited challenges and new circumstances peace and tranquility in the border areas provided the basis for expanded cooperation in other domains,” Jaishankar said. “But as the pandemic unfolded, the relationship has come under severe stress.” The minister made the remarks at the Sardar Patel Memorial lecture, aired on All India Radio. "The relationship cannot be immune to changes in the assumptions that underpinned it," he said.

Creation of border infrastructure is a national priority: EAM S Jaishankar

Talking about the strategy on national security, Jaishankar said advocating sweeping solutions without laying the groundwork may be dramatic politics, and mentioned about creation of border infrastructure along the northern border. Breaking down silos and ensuring a more integrated governance process is just as important to performance. It has been a major priority in the last six years, especially in national security, he said.

The minister said India will continue to give utmost attention to its immediate neighbourhood while engaging the different poles of emerging global order. "As an outlook, the Neighbourhood First policy remains generous and non-reciprocal in creating the basis for shared activities in different domains. Extended neighbourhood ties with the US and Russia are steady: EAM Jaishankar In his speech, the minister also spoke about India’s ties with the US and Russia besides Japan. With the US, India had pursued “non-partisan" ties and strong economic and technological complementarities have laid a strong foundation for the relationship, he said. “But it is in the face of emerging multi-polarity that both nations have developed a serious interest in more intensive engagement," he added. India’s ties with Russia on the other hand, have held remarkably steady and the “strategic logic that has sustained this relationship since its early days still remains largely relevant," the ministry said.India has also increased its engagement with European states, which are now taking a greater interest in the Indo-Pacific region, he said.