‘Will take time to rebuild trust,’ India’s Jaishankar lauds military for LAC deal with China

Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said Saturday (Oct 26) it will take time to rebuild trust with China following the border patrolling agreement along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). While interacting with university students in Pune, a city in the state of Maharashtra, Jaishankar credited India’s military forces and diplomatic efforts for the major agreement. The External Affairs Minister (EAM) said that Indian armed forces operated in “very, very unimaginable” conditions to defend their homeland.

Jaishankar told students that securing India’s borders was the government’s biggest priority.

“Our budget for deploying troops along the China border has increased fivefold, enabling us to maintain a strong presence even in challenging, cold conditions,” said the top Indian diplomat.

“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,” he added.

On the issue of disengagement, Jaishankar said that the recent agreement paved the way for the high-level meeting between the Indian PM and the Chinese leader.

“We came to the understanding that patrolling would be resumed how it used to be before… This was important because it was an affirmation that if we can do the disengagement, then it is possible for the leadership level to meet, which is what happened (with Prime Minister Narendra Modi-Chinese President Xi Jinping meeting) in Russia’s Kazan during the BRICS summit,” Jaishankar said.

When asked in what direction the Indo-China ties were heading, Jaishankar said, “I think it is a bit early. We have to wait for things to settle themselves. Because, after four years of a very disturbed border where peace and tranquillity have been shattered, it will naturally take time to rebuild a degree of trust and a willingness to work with each other.”

“If we have reached where we have today, there are two reasons for it. The first is a very determined effort on our part to stand our ground and make our point and this would only happen because the military was there in very, very unimaginable conditions to defend the country. The military did its part and diplomacy did its part,” he stressed.

(With inputs from agencies)