India China Relation: After withdrawal of troops from LAC, Jaishankar told further plans, know what he said

New Delhi: Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar on Saturday said that the withdrawal of troops from both the countries has been completed after agreeing to resolve the problem on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh last month. He said that now the emphasis should be on reducing tension. Jaishankar described as 'reasonable' the expectation of some improvement in India-China relations after the last round of military withdrawal, but refrained from saying that bilateral relations could return to the old form.

S Jaishankar said in the 'HT Leadership Summit' that I see the withdrawal of troops simply as their retreat, nothing more and nothing less. He said that if you look at the current situation with China, we had an issue where our troops were uncomfortably close to the Line of Actual Control. Therefore, the October 21 consent regarding the withdrawal of troops was final and with this the work of withdrawal of troops towards the solution of this problem has also been completed.

India-China border dispute

India and China last month completed the withdrawal of troops from Demchok and Depsang in eastern Ladakh along the Line of Actual Control. Earlier, both sides had agreed to resolve the long standing dispute on the Line of Actual Control. Both sides also resumed patrolling activities in both the areas after a gap of almost four and a half years. Jaishankar further said that after the withdrawal of troops is completed, our next step should be to reduce tension on the Line of Actual Control.

Reference to National Security Survey

Regarding the overall India-China relations, Jaishankar discussed many factors and said that it is a 'complex' relationship. Jaishankar was asked about whether the economic and security branches of the government have different views on China, as this year's Economic Survey shows that the latter advocated greater partnership with the neighboring country. On this he said that there may be different viewpoints, but the overall relationship is decided by policy decisions only.