India-China relations are at their most difficult phase: Jaishankar

BY S VENKAT NARAYAN Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, December 9:

India-China relations are at their “most difficult phase,” External Affairs Minister Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said here on Wednesday. He was referring to relations between the two Asian giants in the aftermath of a violent clash between troops of the two sides in June this year that led to the deaths of 20 Indian and an unknown number of Chinese soldiers.

Speaking at an event organised by Australia’s Lowy Institute think tank, Jaishankar said

China had offered five different explanations for amassing heavily armed troops along its borders with India.

Ties between the neighbours had been “very significantly damaged” by the move.

Ties between the two countries have been tense since May when India detected intrusions into Indian territory by Chinese troops. The two countries share an undemarcated border, seen as the reason for the differing perceptions of where the border lies.

Scores of rounds of talks between the two countries have not yet resulted in a solution though the border was largely deemed as peaceful, except starting this summer when the tensions rose.

Responding to a question about India’s cooperation with China without giving in to Chinese coercion and demands, Jaishankar sketched out a picture of ties over the past three-four decades. The last time the two countries had had casualties on the border prior to June this year was in 1975.

Since 1988 when then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi visited Beijing, the direction of ties had been broadly positive with an increase in trade and tourism amongst other types of engagement, he said.

“All this was posited on the fact that while we were trying to solve the boundary question, we would maintain peace and tranquillity on the border areas …. You never had a major breach of this understanding,” the minister said. A series of agreements were signed from 1993 onwards to ensure peace and tranquillity on the borders.

So far, the Chinese side had offered five differing explanations for amassing tens of thousands of soldiers with full military preparations right up to Line of Actual Control (LAC) border in Ladakh, he said.

The deaths of 20 Indian soldiers had “completely changed national sentiment” vis a vis China in India, the minister said. “How do we get the relationship back on track, that is a very big issue.”

“We are very clear that maintaining peace and stability along the Line of Actual Control is the basis for the rest of the relationship to progress,” Jaishankar said.

“The relationship this year has been has been very significantly damaged,” he said.

“We are very clear that maintaining peace and stability along the LAC is the basis for the rest of the relationship to progress,” he added.

On the ascent of Chinese President Xi Jinping up the power ladder and China’s rise in the world, Jaishankar said “there has been an evolution in China.”

“You have today a China whose engagement with the world is very different from the way it used to be conducted 20 years ago. You could argue that it is natural that as a country goes up the power hierarchy its behavioural pattern would change. I reserve comment on it. But clearly no question, you have a more nationalistic China. And that is expressed down the line in a variety of ways and often in policies as well,” he said.

On India-Australia ties, the Indian minister said that in the current context of a multipolar world, countries need to look “beyond old habits and established structures.”

“There is a requirement today of a lot of other countries with more capabilities to contribute to the shaping of the global order to ensure the global good, to secure the global commons,” he said.

Countries with converging interests and shared values who relate to each other in various ways could do a lot together not only between themselves but also in their respective regions and the rest of the world, he added.