India-China ties at crossroads, depend on neighbour following rules: Jaishankar
India TodayThe relationship between India and China is at a crossroads and its direction depends on whether the neighbouring country adheres to various agreements on maintaining peace and tranquillity along the border, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday, referring to the eastern Ladakh standoff. Jaishankar said the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's visit in 1988 to China, 26 years after the 1962 conflict, led to a consensus on having stability along the frontier, which was followed by the signing of two important agreements in 1993 and 1996 on maintaining peace and tranquillity at the border. At a media briefing, Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs Arindam Bagchi said full restoration of peace and tranquillity in the border areas would enable progress in the bilateral relationship and that the disengagement of troops at friction points in eastern Ladakh remained "unfinished". To a question on further disengagement in eastern Ladakh, Bagchi said that full restoration of peace and tranquillity in the border areas would enable progress in bilateral ties.