Peace at border areas essential to building ties: Jaishankar to China

Any unilateral change in status quo along the Line of Actual Control was "not acceptable" to India, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Wednesday, and emphasised the need to complete the disengagement, resolving the remaining issues in Eastern Ladakh at the earliest as prolongation of the existing situation was "visibly impacting the relationship in a negative manner". During an hour-long meeting on the sidelines of a conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Dushanbe, the two ministers agreed that the next round of military dialogue should be convened at the earliest and its focus should be on discussing all the remaining issues to find a mutually acceptable solution, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

It said there was also an understanding that both sides will continue to ensure stability on the ground and that neither side will take any unilateral action that could increase tension. During the talks, Jaishankar recalled that both sides had agreed that a prolongation of the existing situation was not in the interest of either side and that it was "visibly impacting the relationship in a negative manner", the MEA said. Assessing the overall relationship, Jaishankar emphasised that maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the border areas has been the foundation for the development of ties since 1988.

"The attempts to change status quo last year that also disregarded commitments under the 1993 and 1996 agreements have inevitably affected ties," the EAM said.