'Not Sorted Out Everything With China But..' Jaishankar Admits to 'Unfinished Work' on LAC | Rising India Summit

There is unfinished work on the LAC, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Wednesday as he struck an optimistic note about India’s relations with China which have been strained since the Galwan clash of 2020.

Speaking at the Rising India Summit, Jaishankar said to understand the relationship, one must understand the nature of the problem between the two countries.

“The nature of the problem between India and China is that two militaries, which were not deployed at or on or very near the LAC, have done so to a great degree after May 2020. Before 2020, both militaries were primarily located in the depth areas where they had permanent bases and then they would patrol out into the LAC.

“In 2020, the Chinese breached that agreement in violation of the ‘93-96 agreement and brought forces to the LAC. Obviously we countered it. As a result, you have a very, very intricate situation of very close deployments which, by military assessments, is a very dangerous situation to be in.”

Jaishankar said China was warned “but then Galwan happened which was proof of how volatile the situation can be”.

“I met my Chinese counterpart in September 2020 and he accepted that this was a dangerous situation. Since then, we have been trying to pull back the forward deployment but it can only be done when there is mutual agreement,” the minister said.

Jaishankar admitted that India had made “some unilateral moves” in the past “but found it was not reciprocated by the other side”. “Everything that we have done is on the basis of the principle of mutual and equal security which means if we move back here, they move back there,” he added.

Talking about the present situation between the two countries, Jaishankar called it “unfinished work”.

“There are places where we have forward deployments but we continue to work. When it [disturbances] started, people said India could do nothing. My sense is that the military has done what it had to do. The military and diplomacy have worked together. To take away military commanders is ridiculous. The combo of military and diplomacy has been working in lockstep,” he said.

Ending on an optimistic note, Jaishankar added: “I accept that we have not been able to sort everything out but I also tell you that for me, it is not the end of the road. We will keep at it.”

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