Tawqeer Hussain
External Affairs minister Dr S Jaishankar on Wednesday stated that India will “not tolerate” unilateral attempts by China to alter the status quo at the Line of Actual Control.
The Minister was briefing the Upper house of the Parliament -Rajya Sabha – on India’s foreign policy during the first day of the Winter Session.
“Diplomatically, we have been very clear with the Chinese – that we will not tolerate, we will not countenance unilateral attempts to change the LAC and that, so long as they continue to seek to do that and if they have built up forces, which in our minds constitute a serious concern in the border areas, then our relationship is not normal,” Jaishankar said.
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“The abnormality of [bilateral relations] has been in evidence in the last few years,” he added.
India and China have been at loggerheads since the clash of Galwan Valley in 2020 when China violated the Line of Actual Control and reportedly came to the Indian side. Since then the two countries have engaged each other at the diplomatic and military levels to reduce tensions and resume the status quo at the border to the pre-2020 condition. Despite four rounds of disengagement from Galway Valley, Pangong Lake, Gogra and Hot Springs, India and China still have some 60,000 troops each and advanced weaponry deployed in the Ladakh theatre.
“Meanwhile, the military commanders continue to engage each other and, I think, given the sensitivity of that matter, it is something which is left to the military commanders to deal with. I think the House should be understanding of the national sensitivity of such a delicate matter,” he said.
