BORDER ISSUE WITH CHINA HAS PRE-EXISTED QUAD: JAISHANKAR

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said that the issue is whether China will live up to the earlier commitments and if India and China’s relationship can be built based on mutual sensitivity, mutual respect, and mutual interest. There is an apparent lack of progress on disengagement from some friction points along LAC in Ladakh.

The EAM Minister, who spoke at the Qatar Economic Forum through video conference, answered queries relating to the border situation with China in Ladakh. He said the border issue has pre-existed the Quad. Jaishankar said, “There are two big issues there right now. One of those is that the close-up deployments still continue, especially in Ladakh. The issue is whether China will live up to the commitments it has made, written commitments it has made about both countries not deploying a large arm force at the border. And the larger issue really is whether we can build this relationship on the basis of mutual sensitivity, mutual respect and mutual interest.”

India and China after having successfully disengaging in the Pangong lake area earlier this year, they have held military talks for disengagement from remaining friction points including Gogra heights, Hot Springs and Depsang Plains.

The Minister also said that the US and Europe should step forward for India to ramp up its Covid-19 vaccine production. Referring to Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), he said the four countries — the US, India, Japan and Australia — have come together on a common agenda which includes maritime security and connectivity.

Jaishankar said that the last six months of India-EU ties have been remarkable in which various important decisions were made including the resumption of negotiations on the Trade and Investment Agreement between the two sides.

Speaking during a session at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) on the “Future of India-EU relations”, Jaishankar said: “It has been a remarkable six months with our relationship with the EU. And I would be less than honest if I didn’t begin by thanking the Portuguese for the presidency.” In the presence of the Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva, EAM Jaishankar noted that India-EU has crossed the threshold and we have seen more momentum.

“We had a crucial virtual summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and all the EU leaders. We made some important decisions. One is the resumption of negotiations on the Trade and Investment agreement,” he said adding that it was not a capricious or purely diplomatic decision. “A lot of work went into it. We reached a stage, where we felt confident to do so.”