The situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh remains “very fragile” and “quite dangerous” in terms of military assessment, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said Saturday, in a significant choice of words that underlines the current state of the India-China border standoff that began nearly three years ago.
Jaishankar, who was speaking at the India Today Conclave in New Delhi, also took a dig at Rahul Gandhi over his recent remarks in the UK and said the Congress leader was “drooling over China”.
“I am troubled as a citizen of India when I see somebody drooling over China and being dismissive about India. What’s the word which comes to his (Rahul Gandhi’s) mind when he talks of China.. harmony.. his one word description of China is harmony, [and] his one word description of India is.. discord,” Jaishankar said.
This is also the first time Jaishankar has used such strong language to describe the India-China situation at the LAC where the Chinese have matched a build-up of around 60,000 Indian troops at close proximity. He has earlier called it “unstable” or “abnormal”.
Sources in the government said Jaishankar’s use of the word “dangerous” is deliberate given the aggressive posture adopted by the Chinese, as assessed by the Indian military, and also the geo-political circumstances arising out of Xi Jinping’s rare third term as the Chinese President.
“This is a very, I would say, challenging and abnormal phase in our ties with China. Why I say that is because from 1988 when Rajiv Gandhi went there till 2020 the understanding was that peace and tranquility on the border would be maintained,” Jaishankar said.
He said the Chinese violated the agreements in 2020 and “the consequences of it were seen in Galwan Valley and other areas”. “We have deployed our troops, we have stood our ground and the situation to my mind still remains very fragile because there are places where our deployments are very close up and in military assessment, actually therefore, quite dangerous,” he said.
Referring to the agreements between India and China to not bring large forces to the border, Jaishankar said the two countries had a “very specific” set of understandings and had put in place protocols on the handling of various situations. He said he and former Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had also reached an “in-principle agreement in September 2020” on how to resolve the LAC issue.
Jaishankar said the two countries have, of late, made “substantial progress” on disengagement in many areas while discussions were on over many other areas as well. “It is a painstaking job and we will do that…” he said.
“We have made it very clear to the Chinese that we cannot have a breach of peace and tranquility, you can’t violate agreements and then want the rest of the relationship to continue as though nothing happened. That’s just not tenable,” he added, going on to say that it was now for China to deliver on the agreements.
Referring to Rahul’s comments in the UK regarding China, Jaishankar said, “In this current situation, to talk up a competitive relationship, and do worse, do down your own country…. Why is somebody undermining national morale like this?”
“He (Rahul) compares the Belt and Road [Initiative] like the Yellow River in China gushing forth…. the Belt and Road goes through PoK [Pakistan-occupied Kashmir]… it violates our national integrity and sovereignty.. don’t have a word to say about it,” Jaishankar said.
Also Saturday, Jaishankar and Rahul met at the Parliamentary Consultative Committee for External Affairs on India’s G20 Presidency.
Jaishankar posted a group photo on Twitter of those who attended the meeting. “Chaired the Parliamentary Consultative Committee for External Affairs on India’s G20 Presidency. Thank members for their active participation,” he wrote.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor, who is part of the Parliamentary committee, said the meeting was “somewhat marred by some members needlessly politicising the discussion” and that Rahul “robustly responded”.
“A good meeting of the Consultative Committee on External Affairs today on India’s foreign policy objectives in the G-20 was somewhat marred by some members needlessly politicising the discussion. @RahulGandhi robustly responded to them & it ended with an amicable group photograph,” Tharoor tweeted.
On G-20, Jaishankar said that India doesn’t want the grouping to become a “debating club”, and grouping of the “Global North”.
On the Russia-Ukraine war and its impact on the G-20 Summit, he said, “You can take positions which have no sense of realism, no sense of responsibility, as though a very serious conflict requires a diplomatic event in Delhi to be breached. There is a much bigger problem going on in Ukraine. The problem is not going to be sorted out in a conference in Delhi, the problem is going to be sorted out out there in Ukraine, so I think it’s a non-serious proposition.”
On the newly-appointed US ambassador Eric Garcetti’s comments on human rights and the “discriminatory” Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Jaishankar said, “Let him come here (to Delhi)…pyaar se samjha denge (We will make him understand politely)”.
Garcetti was confirmed by the US Senate this week after almost two years of hurdles in the process. (Indian Express)
