External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar addressed the strained relations between India and China on Monday during a Quad meeting in Japan. He emphasized that New Delhi is “not looking to other countries to sort out” the situation. This statement came shortly after Jaishankar met with his Chinese counterpart, where both agreed to provide “strong guidance to finish disengagement.”
“We have views on China based on our experience. Our relations with China are not doing very well. The main reason for that is in 2020, during COVID, China brought very large forces to the border areas between India and China, violating our agreements and creating tensions that led to a clash, resulting in casualties on both sides,” he explained.
These remarks were made amid the ongoing border dispute in eastern Ladakh, now in its fifth year. Jaishankar insisted that it is up to the two neighboring countries to “talk it over and find a way” without third-party interference.
“Obviously, other countries in the world would have an interest in the matter because we are two big countries, and the state of our relationship impacts the rest of the world. But we are not looking to other countries to sort out what is really an issue between us,” he added.
Jaishankar and Wang Yi met last week in the Laotian capital during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations meetings. They agreed on the need to provide strong guidance to complete the disengagement process following the military standoff in eastern Ladakh in May 2020.
India maintains that its ties with China cannot return to normal unless there is peace in the border areas.
