The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Jaishankar: China has not occupied any of our territory
Says situation along China border is competitive, sensitive & challenging
CLAIMING THAT China had not encroached on any part of Indian territory External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that the situation between the two countries however continues to be both sensitive and competitive.
Speaking to media persons in Pune on Friday, the minister said the two countries never had troops on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with both the armies deployed away from it on their respective sides. “In 2020, China brought its troops forward in some places. In response we also advanced our units and a standoff ensued. After that, the two armies continue to battle for supremacy on the Chinese border, but there is no encroachment,” he said.
Jaishankar was on a visit to Pune on Friday in the wake of the Lok Sabha elections. On Thursday, NCP (SP) President Sharad Pawar had said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should answer what steps the government was taking on the encroachment by China. “China has not occupied any of our land. China has tried to bring its troops to the upper part of the mountainous areas along the LAC but the Indian Army also responded to it in the same manner. The situation is competitive, sensitive and challenging,” said the minister even as he dismissed the allegation that some Ladakhis were helping the Chinese army in Ladakh.
Defending the fencing of Myanmar border, Jaishankar said that it was done for the security of the region as human trafficking and drug cartels were taking advantage of the free movement zone that existed there.
Responding to conjectures that were doing the rounds that he may contest the Lok Sabha elections this time, Jaishankar replied, “You don’t really ask the party leadership such things–you let them decide what’s best for you. I am doing hectic campaigning for the party and whichever city I happen to visit frequently like it happened with Bengaluru, stories start doing the rounds that I may contest from there.”
He, however, evaded the question on what he felt of the kind of party hopping this election is seeing by saying, “I wouldn’t know- this is my first LS polls as a member of a political party, so I cannot comment on it.”