External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday credited the Army for the successful agreement with China on patrolling on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and said the Army worked in very unimaginable circumstances and showed skillful diplomacy. Replying to a question during an interaction with students in Pune, Jaishankar said it will still take some time to normalize relations and naturally it will take time to rebuild trust and willingness to work together. The Secretary of State also spoke about the US presidential election and said that both leaders (Kamala Harris and Trump) are good for us.
Responding to a question on China, he said that when Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kazan, Russia, for the BRICS summit, it was decided that the foreign ministers and national security advisors of the two countries would meet and we will see. how to proceed further.
Jaishankar said: “If we have reached this stage today, one of the reasons is that we have made a very determined effort to stand firm and keep our word. The army has to defend the country in very unimaginable circumstances. Part of the problem is that “The military has done its job and India has improved its infrastructure in the last decade. Today we devote five times more resources a year than a decade ago, and the combination of these (factors) is really allowing us to deploy effectively.” “It's brought us here.”
'There was talk of finding a solution since 2020'
Let us tell you that just a few days ago, India had announced that it had signed an agreement with China to patrol the LAC in Eastern Ladakh, which is a big success in ending the military standoff that has been going on for more than four years. . In fact, the situation at the border has been very turbulent since 2020, which has negatively affected relations in general. On this, the External Affairs Minister said that since September 2020, India was in talks with China on finding a solution.
The Foreign Minister said that this solution has several aspects. The most important thing is to push the soldiers back because they are very close to each other and there is a possibility that something will happen. Then, due to the increase in the number of soldiers on both sides, the tension is decreasing. It is also a big problem how the border is managed and the border agreement is negotiated. What is happening now is related to the first part, which is disintegration.
'Soldiers will return to their bases'
Jaishankar said: “India and China have agreed in some places after 2020 on how troops will return to their bases, but one important clause is related to patrols. Patrols were stopping and that is what we were talking about at the last moment “. “We tried to negotiate for two years. So what happened on October 21 was that in those particular areas, Depsang and Demchok, we reached an agreement that patrols would resume as before.”
He said that now the focus is on the border. This didn't happen overnight. For this we had to talk a lot. Our budget for soldiers deployed on the border with China is now five times larger than before. We allowed soldiers to stay there even in cold conditions. Infrastructure created in remote areas. It was really a joint government approach. Diplomacy and the military worked together. It was a team effort.
On the issue of financial trade with China, the Foreign Minister said that I have business experience. China is still a big manufacturer. Somewhere we have to understand, we have to develop those skills. We must have our own supply chain. Companies have their own responsibilities. We have to support employment. When we talk about self-sufficiency, it was an economic strategy plan. This is a self-defense strategy. It's a complete package
He also spoke about United States relations.
On the US elections, Jaishankar said that both leaders (Kamala Harris and Donald Trump) are good for us. If we look at history, Clinton came to India in the year 2000 during Atal ji's government. This was the first time that the US President made his stance clear on India. Until then, all American presidents treated India and Pakistan equally. This was his bad habit. The last five American presidents had different personalities. Today our approach is completely different. The American President believes that we should give priority to India. I think there are two strong factors behind this. One is technology. This is the age of AI, which we can both take advantage of. India has its own human capital. This pair can work to mutual benefit. India and the United States have the same interest in global strategy. If a problem arises we will have to analyze it. “The friendship between India and the United States will grow further.”
