De-escalation must for normal ties: India

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, September 4

The clashes on the border with China have led to an estrangement in diplomatic ties, which will not be normal again unless there is complete disengagement and de-escalation by its troops on the border, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said here on Friday.

Jaishankar, Wang Yi to meet in Moscow

Foreign Ministers S Jaishankar and Wang Yi attended a webinar of BRICS Foreign Ministers on Friday but did not opt for direct talks on the Net. Jaishankar will meet Wang next week when he travels to Russia to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meet, in which Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi will also participate.

“It cannot be business as usual… we are always willing to talk and engage but there will be no compromise,” he said at a webinar organised by the Indian Council of World Affairs with academics from all over the country.

Shringla referred to the gravity of the current situation in Ladakh that saw casualties on the LAC for the first time in 40 years. Besides, there were attempts to take unilateral actions that “seem to be efforts to change the facts on the ground”.

“Even in the depth of the Covid crisis, we kept the communication lines (with China) open. Ground commanders are talking as we speak. But it is a fact that unless there is peace in the border areas, normal bilateral ties will be affected,” he said.