External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar (file photo)
On the India-China disengagement agreement on the LAC, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Saturday said it is a result of the military and diplomacy. He said this was only possible because the army was present to protect the country in extremely adverse circumstances. Diplomacy also did its job. While speaking to businessmen in Pune, Maharashtra, on Saturday, the External Affairs Minister told them how this deal came about.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said it will naturally take time to restore trust between the two countries and work together. He said this when Prime Minister Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping at the BRICS summit. Where it was decided that the Foreign Ministers and National Security Advisors of both countries would meet and hold further talks. He said that this agreement was not achieved alone, it was possible after several rounds of negotiations.
Let us stay true to our words – Jaishankar
Jaishankar said: 'If we have come this far today, one of the reasons is that we have stuck to our point, we have made a very determined effort to make our point. India has improved its infrastructure in the last decade. Today we are dedicating five times more resources each year than we did a decade ago, which is getting results and allowing the Army to deploy truly effectively.
A few days ago an agreement was reached between India and China on troop disengagement and patrolling near the LAC in eastern Ladakh. This is an important step forward to end the stagnation that has lasted more than four years. In June 2020, relations were strained following a fierce clash between soldiers of the two countries in the Galwan Valley. This was the most serious military conflict between the two sides in recent decades.
Patrols in Demchok and Depsang will continue as before
The External Affairs Minister said that since September 2020, India was in talks with China to find a solution. He said there are many aspects to this solution. The most important thing is that the soldiers have to retreat, because they are very close to each other and there was a possibility that something would happen.
He said that, after this, the big problem is how to manage the border and how to negotiate the border agreement. Whatever is happening now is related to the first phase, which is the withdrawal of troops. He said India and China agreed in some places after 2020 on how troops will return to their bases, but one important thing was related to patrols.
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Jaishankar said: 'Patrols were being stopped and we were trying to negotiate about it for the last two years. So what happened on October 21 was that in those particular areas, Demchok and Depsang, we reached an agreement that patrols would resume in the same way as before.
