‘Normal China ties hinge on peace’

NEW DELHI: India hopes to find a resolution of the remaining issues with China, said External Affairs Minister, Dr Jaishankar. “A return to normal bilateral ties hinges on peace and tranquility at the border and the remaining issues pertain to patrolling rights and partrolling abilities,” he said in an interview.

“Today our relations with China are not normal because peace and tranquility in border areas has been disturbed. PM Modi in an interview (Newsweek) was expressing the hope that the Chinese side should realise that the present situation is not in their own interest,’’ he said.

PM Modi has said that the border situation needs to be addressed urgently and that stable and peaceful ties between India and China are important not just for the two countries but also for the entire region and the world.

Meanwhile, Dr Jaishankar said diplomacy is a work of patience and India continues to discuss the issues with the Chinese side. “I would say that we need to resolve those issues if the relationship is to come back to normal,” he said.

There has been a standoff between India and China since 2020 (after the Galwan incident) and a full resolution of the border row has not yet been achieved even though both countries have disengaged from some friction points.

Dr Jaishankar said India needs to be confident and competitive as far as trade is concerned. “We need to be confident and competitive.

I am clear that international politics and relations are competitive. I have a neighbour like China, I have to learn to compete,’’ he said.

Bilateral trade between India and China has been on the ascendant. From 2015-22 the trade grew by 90.14% reaching $136.26 billion. “After all, if somebody is at your front door, in an unfriendly manner, you are not going to go out there and act as though everything is normal,’’ he said.

India has been consistently maintaining that peace and tranquillity along the LAC is the key to normalisation of overall ties.

Meanwhile, on the India Middle East Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) (keeping in view the situation in West Asia), Dr Jaishankar said that it’s a good initiative but has to be adjusted a bit now. “It has definitely been a concern for us… and the kind of expectation we had when the agreement was signed in September, we have had to adjust it a bit,’’ he said. The project will be delayed by a few years.

“So we have to wait for things to stabilise a bit. I think it is a matter of great concern and it’s also a very complex issue,’’ he added.

The IMEC was announced in September 2023 following a meeting in New Delhi between the leaders of India, the US, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Italy, France, Germany, and the European Commission on the sidelines of the G20 Summit.