India-China ties set in direction of some improvement: Jaishankar on disengagement

While India is committed to remaining engaged with China to find a fair and mutually acceptable settlement of the boundary issue, the relations will be contingent upon strictly respecting the sanctity of the LAC and following pacts on border management with no attempt to unilaterally alter the status quo, he said.

He listed three key principles that must be observed in all circumstances. “One, both sides should strictly respect and observe the LAC; two, neither side should attempt to unilaterally alter the status quo; and three, agreements and understandings reached in the past must be fully abided by in their entirety,” he said.

Jaishankar has been vocal about the border situation impacting bilateral ties, and his statement in Lok Sabha is being seen as a nuancing of the Indian position.

In this context, Jaishankar laid out five aspects of the developments regarding the border standoff.

First, he said the agreement came after two years of negotiations since September 2022. Referring to the agreement reached on October 21 regarding the Depsang Plains and Demchok, he said the twin considerations of an “unstable local situation and an impacted bilateral relationship were clearly the drivers for these recent endeavours”.

“These two areas have been the focus of our discussions in both WMCC (Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination) and SHMC (Senior Highest Military Commander) talks with the Chinese side since September 2022, when the last disengagement agreement was concluded at the Hot Springs area,” he said.

Second, he listed three key meetings that led to the breakthrough. “In the lead up to the October 21 agreement, I had discussed both the specific disengagement issue as well as the larger relationship with my Chinese counterpart in Astana on July 4 and Vientiane on July 25. Our National Security Advisor and his Chinese counterpart also met in St. Petersburg on September 12,” he said.

Framing the challenges that the negotiators faced, he said: “The problem in these two areas pertained primarily to obstructions of our long-standing patrolling activity. In Demchok, there was also the question of access by our nomadic population to traditional grazing grounds, as well as to sites of significance to the local people.”

Third, he spelled out the outcome of the negotiations. “As a result of this recent understanding arrived at after intensive negotiations, resumption of patrolling to the traditional areas is underway. It was initially tested by sending out patrols for verification of disengagement on the ground and is being followed up by regular activities as per the agreed understanding,” he said.

Fourth, Jaishankar talked about the three meetings between the two sides since the breakthrough, and the directions that followed the discussions. “Following the October 21 understanding, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping had a meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan on October 23. They welcomed the understanding and directed the Foreign Ministers to meet and stabilise and rebuild the relationship. The Special Representatives are also to oversee the management of peace and tranquility besides exploring a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to the boundary question,” he said.

“In pursuance of that, I recently held discussions with Foreign Minister Wang Yi again on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro on November 18. The Raksha Mantri (Rajnath Singh) also met Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun at the ASEAN Defence Ministers (ADMM+) meeting in Vientiane on November 20. The two ministers discussed progress on the recent agreement on disengagement, the need to address de-escalation and the requirement of strengthening confidence building measures. They agreed on the importance of continuing meetings and consultations at various levels,” he said.

And fifth, he spelt out the future expectations and the meetings to be held. “Disengagement has now been achieved in full in Eastern Ladakh through a step-by-step process, culminating in Depsang and Demchok. With the task of disengagement completed, it is now our expectation that discussions would commence in regard to the remaining issues that we had placed on the agenda,” he said.

“The conclusion of the disengagement phase now allows us to consider other aspects of our bilateral engagement in a calibrated manner, keeping our national security interests first and foremost. In my recent meeting with Foreign Minister Wang Yi, we reached an understanding that the Special Representatives and the Foreign Secretary-level mechanisms will be convening soon,” he said, talking about the next steps and the path forward.

In his statement, Jaishankar gave an account of the background to the current border situation, with the sequence of events, the context of the Indian response and the Galwan clashes, the border infrastructure build-up, and the counter-deployment by the forces.

As soon as Jaishankar ended his statement, the Opposition demanded that Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi should be allowed to speak. When Speaker Om Birla did not concede and asked Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to introduce a Bill, the Opposition protested.

“The House runs according to rules. And the rules say that no supplementary questions can be asked after a statement. These are rules made by Parliament,” Birla responded.

Congress MP Mohammed Jawed argued that the Leader of Opposition should be allowed to speak as per “practice and procedure”.

The Speaker then allowed Congress leader K C Venugopal to speak. “As per convention, the Leader of Opposition has a great role in parliamentary procedure. Just like the PM has a role, so does the Leader of Opposition… When Sushma Swaraj used to get up as the Leader of Opposition, the Speaker would allow. This is the custom. We don’t want to argue with the government. China, everybody is interested. The Leader of Opposition just wants to give a suggestion. What is stopping you from taking a suggestion,” Venugopal said.

Reading from a book on parliamentary procedures, Venugopal said the role of the Leader of Opposition is of “sufficiently great public importance”.

Citing the same book, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey countered: “Under Rule 372, following the Speaker’s permission, a minister can make a statement. No questions can be asked while the statement is given. You give a notice and it will be considered.”

During a discussion on a Bill later, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi commented on Jaishankar’s statement. He said while Jaishankar said that India-China relations were not normal since the Galwan incident, “our imports from China have increased since then”. “They talk about showing red eyes to China, but you are giving more visas to the Chinese, importing their goods,” Gogoi said.