On India-China standoff, Jaishankar says won’t go into prediction zone

New Delhi, Dec 12: Minister of External Affairs, S Jaishankar has said that he will not go into prediction zone on the Indo-China tensions.

Jaishankar said he will not predict on whether it will be a long hail or a breakthrough can be expected on the India-China border standoff. I believe what has happened is not actually in the interest of China as it significantly impacted public sentiment, Jaishankar further said.

The events of this year have been very disturbing and they have raised some very basic concerns, the foreign minister also said. Jaishankar also said the real danger is the goodwill so carefully developed will dissipate. We are being tested and I have every confidence that we will rise to the occasion and meet the national security challenge, Jaishankar said on the Ladakh standoff.

Earlier this week, Jaishankar said that China has given India "five differing explanations" for deploying large forces at the LAC, adding this violation of bilateral pacts has "very significantly damaged" their relationship that is now at its "most difficult phase" in the last 30-40 years.

The comments by Jaishankar during an online interactive session organised by Australian think tank Lowy Institute came against the backdrop of the over seven-month-long military standoff between India and China at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.

"We are today probably at the most difficult phase of our relationship with China, certainly in the last 30 to 40 years or you could argue even more," Jaishankar said highlighting various aspects of the bilateral ties in the last three decades."The relationship this year has been very significantly damaged."

"We are very clear that maintaining peace and tranquillity along the LAC is the basis for the rest of the relationship to progress. You can't have the kind of situation you have on the border and say let's carry on with life in all other sectors of activity. It's just unrealistic," he said.

Jaishankar further said, "We have this problem because from 1988, our relationship had its hiccups, we had our issues and differences but the direction of the ties broadly were positive."