‘India-China ties have seen some improvement, de-escalation next priority’: S Jaishankar in Lok Sabha

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday said that India-China ties had seen some improvements and added that they remain committed to engaging with Beijing to arrive at a fair, mutually acceptable framework for a boundary settlement. Jaishankar made the remark while making a statement in Lok Sabha regarding ‘recent developments in India’s relations with China.’ “The recent developments that reflect continuous diplomatic engagements have set Indo-China ties in the direction of some improvement,” said Jaishankar. Stating that India-China ties have been abnormal since 2020 when peace, tranquillity in border areas were disturbed due to Chinese actions, the Union Minister added that amassing of troops by China in eastern Ladakh in April-May 2020 resulted in face-offs at number of points. A few weeks ago, Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi deliberated on the next steps in India-China ties in the first high-level engagement weeks after the militaries of the two sides disengaged from friction points of Demchok and Depsang in eastern Ladakh. — We remain committed to engaging with China through bilateral discussions to arrive at a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable framework for a boundary settlement.” — Members would recall that the amassing of a large number of troops by China along the LAC in eastern Ladakh in April-May 2020 resulted in face-offs with our forces at a number of points.