Jaishankar cites satellite era to explain who moved troops to the LAC first

New Delhi, Jan 03: External Affairs Minister, Dr. S Jaishankar said that when it comes to China there is a larger concern.

He said that Beijing cannot say that India did not adhere to the bilateral agreements on the border management as there is evidence that the Chinese side was the first to move troops to the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

He added that the tense situation in the border areas is solely due to the fact that China has not observed agreements on the border management, Jaishankar said in an interview with Austrian public broadcaster ORF on Monday. The minister was on a two nation tour to Cyprus and Austria.

"There's a larger concern, which is based on our experiences. The concern is that we had agreements with China not to amass forces in our border areas and they have not observed those agreements, which is why we have the currently tense situation that we do," he said while replying to a question on whether he believes China could militarily intervene in Taiwan.

He also rejected the assertion that Beijing too could say New Delhi had not adhered to the agreements and added that it would be difficult for China to say that because the record is very clearly.

If you see who moved the forces to the border areas first, I think the record is very clear. So, it is very difficult for China to say what you you suggested they could, Jaishankar said while referring to the transparency in an era of satellite images.

"My experience is that written agreements were not observed, that we have seen levels of military pressure which in our view has no justification." Despite agreements on not unilaterally altering the LAC, the Chinese side has "tried to unilaterally do that, Jaishankar also said.

On the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the minister said that India has been very clear that this conflict is not in anybody's interest, including Russia's. He said that New Delhi makes foreign policy decisions on the basis of long term interests and what is good for the world.

Where we are concerned we have always taken the position that the way out is for the countries concerned to get back to dialogue and diplomacy, Jaishankar said.