New Delhi, Nov 16 (UNI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said today that the LAC disengagement agreement with China could lead to some improvement in the bilateral ties, but not a reset in view of the “current situation”.
Asked during a talk at the HT Summit today whether he sees the disagreement agreement reached with China last month as ”a tactical thaw in ties, or the beginning of a strategic reset in ties”, the EAM said he sees “the disengagement as only disengagement, nothing more, nothing less”.
He said the two sides have to go in for de-escalation.
“If you look at our current situation with China, we have an issue where our troops are uncomfortably close along the Line of Actual Control, that requires us to disengage.
“And this last understanding of October 21 is the last one of the disengagement agreements, so that with its implementation the disengagement part of the problem is addressed.
“After this there is the de-escalation, which means the massing of troops along the LAC and all the associated developments along with that. Linked with that are the other aspects of the relationship; so at this moment, frankly we are focused on the disengagement.
“Where will the disengagement lead us? It could lead to… it’s a reasonable supposition that there will be some improvement in the ties, but the current situation necessarily doesn’t warrant that at this time,” the EAM said.
The Indian and Chinese militaries completed the disengagement exercise in Demchok and Depsang in eastern Ladakh along the LAC last month and also resumed patrolling after a gap of almost four-and-a-half years.
On the overall India-China ties, Jaishankar said it is a “complicated” relationship.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Kazan BRICS Summit on October 23, in their first such bilateral delegation level meeting after nearly five years, two days after the two sides reached the disengagement agreement.
The two leaders instructed their special representatives on the India-China boundary question to meet at an early date and continue their efforts.
