S Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister, was at an Indian community event in Brisbane, Australia where he spoke about the India China agreement on disengagement along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
“We have made some progress on what we call disengagement. We have to see after the disengagement what is the direction we go. But we do think disengagement is a welcome step, it opens up the possibility that other steps could follow.”
Jaishankar underscored that disengagement is only “one part of the issue”, and there are other aspects of the standoff that need to be addressed.
“The fact is there are a very large number of Chinese troops deployed along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), who were not there before 2020. And we in turn have counter-deployed. And there are other aspects of the relationship which also got affected during this period,” he said.
He will be formally inaugurating India’s fourth consulate in this city on Monday. He will also be attending the 15th Foreign Ministers Framework Dialogue in Canberra alongside his host counterpart Penny Wong.
Jaishankar said the thaw in India-China ties had no analogy to India’s relations with the Quad members (Australia, Japan and the US) as it had a bigger purpose.
The Quad comprised democracies, market economies, nations with a record of global contributions that are working on a common agenda encompassing connectivity and climate forecasting fellowships.
“The Quad is four countries … who feel on many basic issues that they have a common viewpoint working together.”
Alongside a shift from the West, India has focused on southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific under its”Look East” and “Act East” policy, because more than half of the country’s trade flows eastwards.
On the Gaza war, he said “The effort is more to prevent the conflict from spreading,” hinting at India’s involvement without divulging any details.
From Australia Jaishankar will fly to Singapore on the second and final leg of this current tour.
