India's relations with China going through 'very difficult phase': S Jaishankar

Indias relationship with China is right now going through a very difficult phase after Beijing violated agreements not to bring the military forces in the border External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said emphasising that the state of the border will determine the state of the relationshipSpeaking at a panel discussion on Saturday at the Munich Security Conference MSC 2022 here Jaishankar said that India was having a problem with China along the Line of Actual ControlFor 45 years there was peace there was stable border management there were no military casualties on the border from 1975 That changed because we had agreements with China not to bring military forces to the border the Line of Actual Control or LAC and the Chinese violated those agreements the minister said in response to a question from moderator Lynn KuokNow the state of the border will determine the state of the relationship Thats natural So obviously the relations with China right now are going through a very difficult phase he addedThe eastern Ladakh border standoff between the Indian and Chinese militaries erupted following a violent clash in the Pangong lake areas and both sides gradually enhanced their deployment by rushing in tens of thousands of soldiers as well as heavy weaponryThe tension escalated following a deadly clash in the Galwan Valley on June 15 2020 Jaishankar who was in Melbourne last week had said that the situation at the LAC has arisen due to the disregard of written agreements by China in 2020 not to mass soldiers at the border and noted that Beijings actions have become an issue of legitimate concern for the entire international communityWhen a large country disregards written commitments I think its an issue of legitimate concern for the entire international community he had said in response to a question during a joint press conference with his Australian counterpart Marise Payne in MelbourneJaishankar participated in the panel discussion on the IndoPacific at the MSC which is aimed at extensively deliberating on the escalating tension between the NATO countries and Russia over UkraineThe panel included Australian Foreign Minister Payne Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi US Chairwoman of the Senate Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation Jeanne Shaheen and Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs JeanYves Le DrianWhen moderator Lynn Kuok asked how India is contributing to European security and compared the Ukraine crisis with the situation in the IndoPacific Jaishankar said Well I dont think the situations in the IndoPacific and the transatlantic are really analogous Certainly the assumption in your question that somehow there is a tradeoff and one country does this in the Pacific so in return you do something else I dont think thats the way international relations workWe have quite distinct challenges what is happening here or what is happening in the IndoPacific In fact if there was a connection by that logic you would have had a lot of European powers already taking very sharp positions in the IndoPacific We didnt see that We havent seen that since 2009 Jaishankar said amidst an aggressive China flexing its muscles in the regionChina claims nearly all of the disputed South China Sea though Taiwan the Philippines Brunei Malaysia and Vietnam all claim parts of it Beijing has built artificial islands and military installations in the South China Sea Beijing is also involved in a maritime dispute with Japan over the East China Sea Both areas are stated to be rich in minerals oil and other natural resources and are also vital to global tradeOn connectivity Jaishankar said it should be transparent and commercially based It should not create debt and it should not violate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries he added amid international concern over Chinas debttrap policyI think in the last six years the world has woken up to the concerns about connectivity The fact that often connectivity initiatives have hidden agendas or not so hidden agendas that theres dual purpose connectivity he saidIf connectivity initiatives are based on similar outlooks its natural that you would congregate that you would synergise that you would see how does it work for each other So we would certainly encourage you know countries whose connectivity principles and policies are similar he addedChinas takeover of Sri Lankas Hambantota port on 99 years lease for USD 12 billion debt swap drew international concerns over Beijing acquiring strategic assets far away from home by providing heavy loans and investment to smaller nationsIndia has protested to China over USD 60 billion ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor connecting Chinas Xinjiang with Pakistans Gwadar Port as it is being laid through Pakistan Occupied Kashmir PoKOn Quad Jaishankar dismissed the notion that the fourmember grouping is an Asian NATO as completely misleading term and said there are interested parties who advance that kind of analogies He described Quad as a grouping of four countries who have common interest common values a great deal of comfort who happen to be located in the four corners of the IndoPacificIts not post2020 development Our relations with the Quad partners the US Japan and Australia have steadily improved in the last 20 years The Quad has a value in itself It is four countries who recognise today that the world would be a better place if they cooperated And thats essentially whats happening Jaishankar addedIn November 2017 India Japan the US and Australia gave shape to the longpending proposal of setting up the Quad to develop a new strategy to keep the critical sea routes in the IndoPacific free of any influence amidst Chinas growing military presence in the regionThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the 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