India-China disengagement one problem less on border: Minister

The disengagement between the armies of India and China at the Patrolling Point 15 in eastern Ladakh is "one problem less" on the border, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Wednesday.

At a media briefing after his talks with French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, Jaishankar also took an indirect pot shot at China while replying to a question about ''one country'' blocking proposals at the UN Security Council to designate proscribed terrorists.

"I do not think I will say anything new today except I would recognise that we have had disengagement at PP-15 (Patrolling Point 15). The disengagement as I understand was completed. That is one problem less on the border," Jaishankar said, in response to a question.

The disengagement that came days ahead of the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping to the Uzbek city of Samarkand for the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation

Organisation, triggered speculations about a bilateral meeting between the two leaders on the sidelines the summit this week.

However, there is no official word on it either by the Indian side or by the Chinese government.

On "one country" blocking proposals at the UN Security Council to designate Pakistan-based terrorists, Jaishankar said the listing is done as terrorists are a threat to the entire international community.

"Regarding the listing where India and France have cooperated for many years, the listing of terrorists is done because the terrorists are a threat to the entire international community," he said. "We consider France a very much Indo-Pacific player and also a country which has a long-standing presence in the Indian Ocean. So that is also something we specifically discussed," he said about his talks with Colonna.