External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that despite the patrolling agreement with China, which was announced earlier this week, it will take time to restore trust and make the two countries ready to work with each other.
During an interaction with students of a university in Pune on Saturday, Mr Jaishankar said the success with China was possible because the military enabled India to assert itself and put forward its point and diplomacy also played its role. Focusing on infrastructure in border areas also played an important role, allowing effective deployment of forces.
Responding to a question on what can be expected from the agreement on patrolling and withdrawal of troops in Depsang and Demchok areas in eastern Ladakh and the future of India-China relations, the minister said, “Since 2020, the situation on the border has been very disturbed. Has been.” And obviously, this has had a very negative impact on the overall relationship, we have been in talks with China since September 2020 on how to find a solution.’
Mr Jaishankar said there are various aspects to the solution but the most important aspect is to disengage because “troops are very close to each other and God forbid, there is a possibility of something happening”. He said the other aspect is de-escalation, troop mobilization by China and India’s reaction to it and the larger question of border settlement.
The minister said, at present, the focus is on withdrawing the troops and emphasized that after 2020, consensus has been reached in some areas, but stopping patrolling remains an issue which has been under discussion for two years.
“So, what happened on October 21 was that in Depsang and Demchok, we came to an understanding that patrolling would be resumed as it used to be before… This was important because it was a confirmation that if we were to disengage If we can, then it is possible to meet at the leadership level, which happened in Kazan, Russia during the BRICS summit (with Prime Minister Narendra Modi-Chinese President Xi Jinping meeting),” he said during an interaction at FLAME University in Pune. Said.
future of relationships
On where India-China relations will go from here, Mr Jaishankar said, “I think it is a bit early. We will have to wait for things to resolve themselves. Because, after four years of very turbulent Where peace and tranquility have been broken, it will naturally take time to restore the degree of trust and willingness to work with each other.”
“If we have got here today, there are two reasons for that. First, there is a very determined effort on our part to stick to our guns and make our point and that will only happen because the Army was very, very unpredictable there.” Circumstances for the defense of the country. The military did its job and diplomacy did its job,” he stressed.
The second reason, the minister said, was the importance given to improving infrastructure in border areas in the last decade.
“Today, we have deployed almost five times the resources annually compared to a decade ago. The results are visible and it has made it possible to deploy the army effectively. I will be patient.” When PM Modi and President Xi met , then the decision was taken, he said, adding, “The Foreign Minister and the National Security Advisor will meet and see how this should be taken forward.”
process in progress
NDTV on Friday had reported on satellite images showing tents and semi-permanent structures being removed by the Chinese side in Depsang and Demchok.
The patrolling agreement was announced by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Monday and Army sources said on Friday that the process of withdrawal of troops in both the disputed areas will be completed by October 29. PM Modi and Mr Jinping welcomed the agreement in their meeting on Wednesday.
The standoff between Indian and Chinese armies began in May 2020 and led to a deadly clash in Galwan, Ladakh the following month, in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed in action and an unspecified number on the Chinese side were also killed.
This was followed by troop mobilization and after months of talks, Indian and Chinese troops withdrew from the disputed Gogra-Hot Springs area in Ladakh in September 2022 and returned to the pre-April 2020 status quo.
