Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Thursday asserted that peace and tranquility in the border areas is a “sine qua non” for India and China to work together, and that New Delhi hopes that Beijing will work with it to bring a satisfactory resolution to the current issues, keeping in view each other's sensitivities and interests.
Speaking at a seminar on “Leveraging China's Economy”, Shringla said developments along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh have “seriously disturbed” the peace and tranquillity in border areas, and this has had an impact on the relationship too.
Referring to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's remarks that the ability of India and China to work together will determine the Asian century, Shringla said: “He (Jaishankar) has also clearly articulated that development of our ties can only be based on mutuality — mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutual interests should guide this process.”
“We hope that the Chinese side will work with us to bring a satisfactory resolution to the current issues so as to make progress on our bilateral relations keeping in view each other's sensitivities, aspirations and interests,” he said.
The border standoff between the Indian and Chinese militaries erupted on May 5 last year following a violent clash in the Pangong lake areas and both sides enhanced their deployment by rushing in tens of thousands of soldiers as well as heavy weaponry.
As a result of a…
