State of border will be reflected on state of India-China relationship: Jaishankar

New Delhi, June 17: External Minister Dr S Jaishankar on Thursday asserted that the development of India-China ties has to be based on mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutuality of interests and made it clear that the state of the border will be reflected on the state of the India-China relationship.

 

Addressing the 12th Delhi Dialogue in the presence of many foreign ministers of ASEAN countries, Jaishankar noted that the ASEAN partners would have an interest in the relations between India and China.

 

According to the statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs, "It is natural while surveying the larger landscape that our ASEAN partners would have an interest in relations between India and China. So let me be clear that development of our ties has to be based on three mutuals: mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutuality of interests. The state of the border will be reflected on the state of the relationship."

 

 

Earlier, he also said the world is currently experiencing turbulence which, along with the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, has made the global outlook even more uncertain and complex. "Developments in our own region too have had their implications, whether we speak of Afghanistan or of Myanmar. Further away, the conflict in Ukraine is exacerbating concerns over food, fertiliser and our fuel security," the external affairs minister said.

 

This global scenario highlights the need for countries in the Indo-Pacific region to enhance cooperation and in fact, to stand together, he said. These statements came as India and China is engaged in border conflict since May-June 2020. The theme being ‘Building Bridges in the Indo-Pacific’ is relevant when considered that China has increased the aggression in the Indo-Pacific region and several Asian countries have opposed this.

 

 

Speaking about the same, Jaishankar said, "Now, the theme of course, for the current edition of the Delhi Dialogue is ‘Building Bridges in the Indo-Pacific’ and is relevant both in its substance and in its timing. As we have all seen, the Indo-Pacific has been at the centre of the geo-strategic and geo-economic discourse currently."

 

Further, he said, "The undeniable logic of the connectedness of the two oceans along with ongoing global rebalancing call for an open-minded dialogue, which is what you have here. And this is also an opportune time to discuss this topic because as I noted we are celebrating 30 years of ASEAN-India ties. So, we are not just looking at bridges for their own sake, I think we are looking at bridges that could become a pathway for a truly Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between ASEAN and India."