Jaishankar rules out third party role in border dispute with China | External Affairs Defence & Security News

Jaishankar’s remarks come amid an ongoing border dispute in eastern Ladakh that entered its fifth year in May. | Photo: PTI

3 minutes reading Last update : July 29, 2024 | 5:31 p.m. IST

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday ruled out any role of a third party in the India-China border dispute, saying the two neighbours have a problem and it is up to them to find a solution.

“We are not relying on other countries to resolve what is really an issue between India and China,” Jaishankar said while responding to a series of questions at a news conference in Tokyo.

Jaishankar, who is here to attend a meeting of Quad foreign ministers, also said that India’s relations with China are not good and are not doing well.

“We have a problem, or I would say a dispute between India and China… I think it is up to both of us to discuss it and find a solution,” he said.

“Of course, other countries in the world would be interested in taking an interest in this issue, because we are two big countries and the state of our relations has an impact on the rest of the world. But we do not rely on other countries to resolve what is really a problem between us,” he said, recalling his meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi twice this month.

Jaishankar and Wang met last week in the Laotian capital where they attended meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

During their meeting, they agreed on the need to provide strong guidance to complete the disengagement process following the military clash in eastern Ladakh in May 2020.

India maintains that its relations with China cannot be normal without peace in the border areas.

Jaishankar’s remarks come amid a protracted border conflict in eastern Ladakh, which entered its fifth year in May.

On July 4, Jaishankar and Wang met in the Kazakh capital of Astana on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit.

The Indian and Chinese militaries have been in a standoff since May 2020 and a complete resolution to the border dispute has yet to be reached, although both sides have disengaged from a number of friction points.

Ties between the two countries deteriorated significantly after the violent clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020, which marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades.

The two sides have so far held 21 rounds of negotiations at the corps commander level to resolve the impasse.

India is pressuring the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to withdraw from Depsang and Demchok regions.

The two sides held the last round of high-level military talks in February.

Although there was no indication of any breakthrough in the 21st round of talks, both sides agreed to maintain “peace and tranquility” on the ground and continue communication on the way forward.

(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First published: July 29, 2024 | 5:30 p.m. IST