February 19, 2022
2 mins read

Very difficult phase: Jaishankar on Sino-India relations

Asked if the relationship with the West had improved as a result of the confrontation with China, Jaishankar replied: “My relations with the West were quite decent before June 2020.”…reports Ashis Ray

 In a prickly interaction with a moderator, S Jaishankar, Indian External Affairs Minister, remarked in a panel discussion at the annual Munich Security Conference that ties with China are going through a very difficult phase.

Answering a question on the Sino-India situation, the minister explained: “It’s a problem we are having with China; and the problem is this: that for 45 years there was peace, there was stable border management, there were no military casualties from 1975. That changed because we had agreements with China not to bring military forces to the border, we call it border but it’s a line of actual control, and the Chinese violated those agreements. Now the state of the border will determine the state of the relationship. That’s natural. So obviously relations with China are going through a very difficult phase.”

Asked if the relationship with the West had improved as a result of the confrontation with China, he replied: “My relations with the West were quite decent before June 2020.”

The questioner pointed out: “A recent poll, I think it was published just last week, indicates that on this occasion of the 30th anniversary of ASEAN-India relations which we celebrate this year, levels of trust between ASEAN countries and India are fairly low. India ranks fifth, after Japan, the United States, the EU and China; and only 16.6 per cent of respondents in this poll have said that they have confidence in India.”

Jaishankar answered: “I am a politician, so I believe in polls. But I have never seen a poll which has made any sense to me when it comes to foreign policy. So I guess what you cited is probably part of a long list. I would say our relations right now with ASEAN are actually growing well. The two big changes which are taking place are, we have much stronger security cooperation with the ASEAN and the other is physical connectivity.”

There was a charge of lack of principle between India’s attitude towards China and policy towards Russia, when it came to the latter’s current stand-off with Ukraine. The minister challenged this by saying: “I don’t think the situations in the Indo-Pacific and the trans-Atlantic are really analogous. We have quite distinct challenges between what’s happening here (Europe) and what happening in the Indo-Pacific.”

He added: “I think principles and interests are balanced and if people were so principled in this part of the world, they would have been practicing those principles in Asia or in Afghanistan.”

Jaishankar was speaking at a panel discussion on ‘A Sea Change? Regional Order and Security in the Indo-Pacific’. Other speakers in the conversation were representatives of the three other QUAD member countries, namely Yoshimasa Hayashi, foreign minister in Japan, Marise Payne, the Australian foreign minister, and Jeanne Shaheen, a US senator.

Thirty heads of government or state and over 100 minister rank officials are attending the weekend conference.

ALSO READ: Rare earth prices hit record high in China

Previous Story

Germany, France tell citizens to leave Ukraine

Next Story

DAILY BRIEF: India faces major polling as Pakistan sinks Imran Khan in popularity rankings

Latest from -Top News

Jaishankar Meets Think Tank in Russia

EAM Jaishankar’s visit comes at the invitation of Denis Manturov, the First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation….reports Asian Lite News External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Wednesday met with leading

Starvation crisis deepens in Gaza

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) had warned that malnutrition among children under the age of five had doubled between March and June…reports Asian Lite News Three Palestinians in Gaza

PM Modi: India poised to lead next tech wave

PM Modi underscored that the country is poised to lead the next wave of digital transformation in 5G…reports Asian Lite News Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday hailed India’s progress in expanding

‘Sky Not the Limit for India-Japan Ties’

Emphasising the civilisational ties between India and Japan, the Ambassador called the bilateral relationship a “quantum leap” in recent years…reports Asian Lite News In an exclusive interview, India’s Ambassador to Japan, Sibi
Go toTop

Don't Miss

Crippled jute industry struggles to survive

Besides contributing Rs 6,500 crore to the state GDP, it

All Gupkar alliance leaders to attend PM meet

The announcement was made by Dr Abdullah after the PAGD