INDIA-CHINA TIES PASSING THROUGH EXTREMELY DIFFICULT PHASE: JAISHANKAR

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday said that the relationship between India and China is going through an “extremely difficult phase” after what Beijing has done at the border and emphasised that the Asian Century will not happen if the two neighbours could not join hands.

Jaishankar was delivering a lecture on ‘India’s Vision of the Indo-Pacific’ at the prestigious Chulalongkorn University here.

Jaishankar said that the Asian Century will happen when China and India come together. But, it will be difficult to happen if India and China cannot come together.

“At the moment (the India-China) relationship is going through an extremely difficult phase after what China did at the border,” he said.

“We are today probably at the most difficult phase of our relationship with China, certainly in the last 30 to 40 years,” Jaishankar said.

“We could argue even more. The last time there were military casualties on our borders was in 1975, so just to give you a sense of a time there.”

He said while the two countries were taking their time to solve the boundary question, there was an understanding that they will maintain “peace and tranquillity” along the border, saying the two countries had multiple agreements that ask both parties not to bring large forces to the boundary.

“I think if India and China have to come together, there are many reasons to do so, not necessarily only Sri Lanka,” he said, adding that it is in India and China’s own interest to join hands. “We very much hope that wisdom dawns on the Chinese side,” the External Affairs Minister said.

Emphasizing that India envisages a free, open, inclusive and peaceful Indo-Pacific built on a rules-based order, Jaishankar said that only those whose mindsets are built around spheres of influence and are uncomfortable with the democratization of world affairs will dispute the Indo-Pacific.

“A more collaborative outlook that transcends the orthodoxy of earlier theatres is the need of the day. This is about recognizing the realities of globalization and the consequences of

re-balancing. Only those whose mindsets are built around spheres of influence and uncomfortable with the democratization of world affairs will dispute the Indo-Pacific today,” Jaishankar said.

Jaishankar, who arrived here on Tuesday, co-chaired the 9th India-Thailand Joint Commission Meeting with his Thai counterpart and Deputy Prime Minister Don Pramudwinai on Wednesday during which they discussed advancing bilateral contacts in political, economic, security and defence, connectivity and health domains.