S Jaishankar on India-China border row: 'Problem has not been resolved'
Jaishankar said the problem has not been resolved and that has been clearly casting a shadow.
Foreign minister S Jaishankar on Sunday said ties between India and China are going through a “very difficult phase” as he spoke about the Galwan Valley stand-off and Beijing's “disregard” for the border pacts. Jaishankar said the problem has not been resolved and that has been clearly casting a shadow.
He made the remarks while attending an event organised by the Indian community in Brazil's Sao Paulo during his first leg of a three-nation visit. He will also be visiting Paraguay and Argentina.
“We have agreements with China going back to the 1990s which prohibits bringing mass troops in the border area. They have disregarded that. You know what happened in the Galwan Valley. That problem has not been resolved and that has been clearly casting a shadow,” news agency ANI quoted the minister as saying.
Jaishankar also said a relationship cannot be a one-way street and mutual respect has to be there in order to sustain it. "They are our neighbours. Everybody wants to get along with their neighbour. In personal life and country-wise as well. But everybody wants to get along with on reasonable terms. I must respect you. You must respect me."
"So from our point of view, we have been very clear that we have to build the relationship and there has to be mutual respect. Each one will have their interests and we need to be sensitive to what the concerns are for others for a relationship to be built," he said.
"Relationships are a two-way street. A lasting relationship cannot be a one-way street. We need that mutual respect and mutual sensitivity. Right now it is no secret we are going through a very difficult phase," Jaishankar added.
The relations between India and China further soured following a standoff in April-May 2020 over the transgressions by the Chinese Army in multiple areas including the Finger Area, Galwan Valley, Hot Springs, and Kongrung Nala. The situation worsened after violent clashes with Chinese troops in Galwan Valley in June.
(With agency inputs)
