Mind games would be played: Jaishankar on China’s approach towards bilateral ties

New Delhi, February 23

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday said arriving at an equilibrium and maintaining it is going to be one of the “biggest challenges” for India-China ties even as he asserted that the immediate issue at hand was Beijing’s departure from laid-down norms triggering the border row in eastern Ladakh.

In an interactive session at the Raisina Dialogue, he cautioned against China’s “mind games” to restrict the issues under the bilateral framework and said India must not forgo its rights to harness other factors in the world to get better terms on an equilibrium.

On the economic front, the external affairs minister said there would be a period when the Chinese economy will be flattening out and India will be growing and referred to projections by Goldman Sachs that suggested that by 2075, both countries could end up as USD 50 trillion plus economies.

Jaishankar said India should be confident enough to “leverage” the international system to create the “best possible outcome”.

His remarks came when asked whether there would be a settling point between China and India and would the two countries finally find an equilibrium or a balance in their frosty relations.

“Here is the immediate issue which is: From the late 1980s, we had an understanding on the border precisely because it suited both of us. Now there was a departure after almost 30 years. A departure on their side in terms of how they behaved on the border. And there was a pushback from our side,” he said.

“I think arriving at an equilibrium, then maintaining those and refreshing those is going to be one of the biggest challenges for both countries. It is not going to be easy,” he noted.

The external affairs minister said “mind games” will be played which would be that it is “just between the two of us”.