(TibetanReview.net, Dec05’24) –India’s External affairs minister S Jaishankar has on Dec 3 informed the Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament, that India-China relations had improved, and emphasized government’s commitment to engaging with the country, according to the hindustantimes.com Dec 3.
He has also informed the country’s lawmakers that recent military and diplomatic talks had resolved border issues, including the October patrolling agreement for areas along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.
He has also informed the Rajya Sabha, the upper house, on Dec 4 that peace and tranquillity in border areas is a pre-requisite for development of bilateral relationship with China, and the two sides will be discussing de-escalation and effective management of activities in these areas in the coming days, according to the timesofindia.com Dec 5.
In his Rajya Sabha statement on “Recent Developments in India’s Relations with China”, Jaishankar has said China was in “illegal occupation” of 38,000sqkm of Indian territory in Aksai Chin as a result of the 1962 conflict while Pakistan had “illegally” yielded 5,180sqkm of Indian territory to China, which has been under Chinese occupation since 1948.
He has further explained: “While there is a Line of Actual Control, it doesn’t have a common understanding in some areas. We remain committed to engaging with China through bilateral discussions to arrive at a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable framework for boundary settlement.”
In his identical statement in the Lok Sabha, Jaishankar has further said, “Keeping our national security interests foremost, in my recent meeting with foreign minister Wang Yi, we reached an understanding that the special representatives and the foreign secretary-level mechanism will be convened soon.”
He has outlined three key principles to be upheld in all circumstances for engagement with China: “one: both sides should strictly respect and observe the Line of Actual Control (LAC); two: neither side should attempt to unilaterally alter the status quo; and three: agreements and understandings reached in the past must be fully abided by in their entirety”.