China has welcomed External Affairs Minister Jaishankar’s remarks made on Thursday where, while sounding a pessimistic note on relations with Beijing, he laid out a roadmap for better ties. The foreign office spokesman in Beijing said his remarks underscored how important India viewed the China relationship. But it had a caveat.
“The boundary issue should not be linked to overall bilateral relations,” it said, claiming that “this is an important experience from the efforts of both countries over many years to keep ties moving forward.”
The last is precisely what India practised for so many years only to see a steady build-up of Chinese transgressions across the Line of Actual Control, culminating in last year’s clashes in the Galwan Valley where 20 Indian soldiers and an unknown number of Chinese PLA personnel lost their lives.
If there’s anything India has learnt from that experience, it is that settlement of the border dispute cannot be postponed any longer.
