External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Thursday admitted the ongoing standoff with Chinese forces in Ladakh had "profoundly disturbed" ties with Beijing.
Addressing the 13th All India Conference on China Studies, Jaishankar noted progress in ties with China had been slow.
"In the years that passed, we obviously did not see significant progress on arriving at a common understanding of the alignment of LAC in India-China border areas. At the same time, there was also increasing construction of border infrastructure, especially on Chinese side," Jaishankar was quoted by ANI as saying.
Jaishankar said, "For all the differences and disagreements that we may have had on boundary, central fact was that border areas still remain fundamentally peaceful. Last loss of life at India-China border before 2020 was as far back as 1975. That is why the events in Eastern Ladakh last year have so profoundly disturbed the relationship because they not only signalled a disregard for commitments about minimising troop levels but also showed a willingness to breach peace and tranquillity."
"Far from mitigating differences, events of 2020 have actually put our ties under exceptional stress," Jaishankar said about the standoff.
Jaishankar explained the issue before the Indian government was "what Chinese posture signals, how it evolves, what implications it may have for future of ties".
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Adopting a measured tone, Jaishankar observed, "If ties are to be steady and progress, policies must take into account learnings of last three decades.”
(With PTI inputs)
