S Jaishankar credits 'team effort' for border breakthrough with China

Speaking to students in Pune, S Jaishankar revealed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping had discussed the path forward during their meeting at the BRICS summit in Russia.

In Short

• Normalisation of India-China relations will take time, said Jaishankar
• India-China agreement reached on LAC patrolling, ending 4-year standoff
• India improved border infrastructure significantly over the decade

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday credited India's military forces and diplomatic efforts for the recent breakthrough agreement with China on patrolling along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), noting that the Army operated under "very, very unimaginable" conditions to protect the nation.

Speaking to students in Pune, Jaishankar emphasised that while progress has been made, normalising relations will take time, as rebuilding trust and a willingness to collaborate is a gradual process.

"Our primary focus is now on securing the border. This shift didn't occur overnight; it required extensive negotiation and collaboration. Our budget for deploying troops along the China border has increased fivefold, enabling us to maintain a strong presence even in challenging, cold conditions. We have developed infrastructure in remote areas to support this effort. It has been a coordinated approach, with the government, diplomacy, and military all working together as a unified team. It was indeed a team effort," Jaishankar said.

Further in his discussion, Jaishankar also revealed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping had discussed the path forward during their meeting at the recently-concluded BRICS summit in Russia.

The interaction held in Russia, he said, has set the stage for talks between the countries' foreign ministers and National Security Advisors (NSAs) on navigating the longstanding border issues.

Highlighting India's evolving approach, Jaishankar noted the substantial improvements made to the country's border infrastructure over the past decade. "Today, we have allocated five times more resources annually compared to ten years ago, which has enabled the military to be more effectively deployed," he stated.

The External Affairs Minister (EAM) also highlighted the importance of developing domestic capacities with China to strengthen economic resilience and reduce reliance on foreign supply chains.

"Financial trade issues are still there. I have a corporate experience. China is still a big manufacturer. Somewhere we have to understand, we have to develop those capacities. We must have our own supply chain. Business has its own responsibilities. We have to support employment. When we discussed Atmanirbhar, it's an economic strategy plan. It's a self-defence strategy," he said.

Earlier this week, India announced a significant breakthrough with China, reaching an agreement to resume patrolling in eastern Ladakh. The agreement comes after years of tense military standoff along the LAC, which began in 2020 and has since strained bilateral relations. Since September 2020, India has engaged in negotiations with China to find a peaceful resolution to the standoff.

"There are different aspects of this solution," Jaishankar said, explaining that disengagement is the immediate priority due to the proximity of troops and the potential for escalation.

Jaishankar also pointed out that India and China came to an understanding at some places after 2020 on how troops return to their bases, but a significant segment was related to patrolling.

"There was blocking of patrolling and that is what we had been trying to negotiate for the last two years. So what happened on October 21 was that in those particular areas, Depsang and Demchok, we reached an understanding that patrolling would resume how it used to be before," he added.